Vampire Academy Rewrite in Dimitri persepctive
by Mishalovesreading
Summary: This is a correct rewrite of Vampire Academy in the point of view of Dimitri Belikov instead of Rosemarie Hathaways. Enjoy guys and please review! It gives me encouragment to write more but appologies if I don't with school and all DX Thanks in advance guys :D X
1. Chapter 1

**Hiya guys, fourth fanfic eveeer! Woooo! I was going to keep this to myself *evil eyes* in case it wasn't could enough but I've decided I shall share it with the world! Wooo's. Okay, so on with the story.**

**I own no rights to this book and never shall (sad face :( ) but I love the book so much, i must write. ^.^**

**Enjoy and please review peeps XX**

"Rosemarie Hathaway" my superior told me. I sighed. Another endless assignment, doing nothing but chasing runaways and not killing Strongoi like I should be. I leafed through the documents. _Impecable combat grades, average academic grades. Good raw potential._

I sighed again but stood up. Being a head taller than your superiors did have an advantage. "I'm not doing it. She's some runaway and its not my problem" I announced, hoping to put alot of power behind my words. My superior flinched but gestured for me to sit down again. Reluctently, I complied. "Vasilisa Dragomir, last in the line. Ran away with Rosemarie Hathaway" My superior said, his voice devoid of any emotion.

If he had been looking at me, he would have been extreamly suprised as my face was lit up. Even though I hadn't been here long, I knew all about Vasilisa and her horrific car accident. "You should find them In portland, they were last seen on a campus of a collage. Just bring back the Princess, it dosen't matter about Rosemarie." he said, looking down at the papers that were stacked on the desk in front of him. I took this as my cue to leave. I took the standard guardian car down to Portland, thinking of how me and the other Guardians would approach this without triggering their flight mechanism.

Seemed the only way was the method of suprise. We arrived and I told the others of my plans. They reluctently agreed and I snuck off to the road where the univeristy sat. She was there. Rosemarie and the Princess Dragomir were sitting close together. No, not sitting. Vasilisa was _feeding._ I recoiled in disgust and looked away. Forcing myself to push away the image of what I had just seen, I stepped into the yard that case dark shadows.

A cat meowed and I reluctently looked up at the window where the noise had eminated from. Her face stared back at me, her eyes full of a high only vampires could give you yet she was still almost fully alert. She spotted me and the highness that had been in her eyes evaportated compleatly. Cursing myself for letting her see me, I stepped back into the shadows where Austin joined me. Austin was a fellow guardian who had been recruited to help me with the case. We stepped further into the darkness which I hoped meant we were invisble to her eyes now. "Are you insane, Belikov? What are you doing?" Austin asked me incredously.

I shook my head and started moving towards the oposite side of the street. "Keep to the shadows and follow them. At the earliest instance, you intercept. I'm going ahead a few blocks to see if I can catch them there" I said, hoping this shodily put together plan would work after my last one had been blown in minutes. By myself. As I reached my destination, i heard a faint yell of _'Run!'_ followed by several pairs of feet storming up the street, straight towards me. _Victory..._ I stepped directlly into the path of Rosemarie, suprising her.

She jerked the Princess behind her and took up a defensive stance. Rosemarie didn't look like other female guardians her age, infact she didn't look like any female guardians my age. Her skin was a carmel colour that matched with her dark eyes, deep brown hair and human like figure. She was practically exotic, her look extreamly turkish looking. By now, the other guardians had fanned out behind her and the princess. "Leave her alone," Rosemarie growled. "Don't touch her." I held up my hands in what I hoped made me look friendlier than I felt like being in this situation. "I'm not going to-" I took a step forward, hoping that she was calm enough that she wouldnt make a scene about coming back. Rosemarie came at me in what I think she hoped was an offensive manuveure.

I repressed a laugh at this. If she didn't managed somehow to take me down, did she really think she could tackle another eleven? I knocked Rosemarie away, determined not to hurt her, just to make sure she wasn't attacking me or anyone else. She stumbled back and I wanted to groan. Was she really this out of practise she couldn't come back from a shove. Rosemarie started to fall at an angle that would surely put her out of school for a few months, causing to waste more time and potential talent. I caught her arm, steadying her but couldn't help staring at the wound that was constantly pumping blood from her vein. She reached up and pressed her hand to he rneck. Bringing the hand back down, her fingers were covered in blood and suprise was plastered on her shook her black hair around so it covered her bite.

I still worried about it but I brought my eyes to meet with hers. She jerked her hands away from mine although I didn't really want to hold onto them. Rose backed away from me, towards Vasilisa again and took up a defensive stance. I shook my head slightly at her, my disbelief easy to see. Vasilisa reached round to Rosemarie and took her hand in hers. "Rose," Vasilisa whispered. "Don't" Rosemarie still stood exactly the same, her back to Vasilisa and her eyes full of... anger?

Rosemarie looked back at Vasilisa but sagged in defeat. I hesistated for a minute, even though whatever moves she had left wouldn't get her out of this situation. I stepped forwards and looked to the Princess Dragomir, keeping my front up. Deciding it was the right thing to do, I bowed to her, my moves graceful. "My name is Dimitri Belikov," I announced, looking straight towards Vasilisa. "I've come to take you back to St. Vladimir's Academy, Princess"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hiya :D**

**From now on, my aim is to post a chapter every week until I finish the story. Don't kill me if I don't coz of school and everythinnng :D**

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Chapter two

Watching the two girls speek to each other breifly and how Rose had gone from normal Guardian defense stance to a resignated young woman who had obviously talked her out of it. Of course, they hadn't spoken during that time so it made me even more suspicious. I smiled slightly as I remembered something I had read in a book a long time ago. Spirt users... Shadow Kissed.

I called Austin over as me, Rose, Vasilisa and a few other guards boarded the private jet that the academy had. "do not let them talk to each other," I warned Austin, who then nodded briefly and took Rose to the back of the plane. "Five minutes together and they'll come up with an escape plan." Rose looked at me haughtily and stormed to the back of the plan with a brief look of anger over her shoulder.

I suppressed a laugh and escorted Vasilisa to the front of the plane, settaling myself for an annoingly long journey. Vasilisa sat ridgedly the whole flight, gripping a bottle of water. Leaning forward to pick up the current western novel I was reading, I felt an overwhelming sense of being watched.

Which of course I was, by Vasilisa who had been staring at the back of my neck. "You've killed six Strigoi?" Vasilisa asked, her voice sounding intrested. I leaned back to my chair and turned to her. "Yes, Princess Dragomir, I have" I answered, feeling like she had looked at me in awe. She probaly had never seen a Strigoi, yet alone killed one and probably never would.

Nearing the end of our flight, I thought back to the fight. How Rose had planned to fight us all, with no thougt to what the outcome would be, was incredible. Raw potential shining through. Curiosity won be over and I ended up switching places with Austin who raised an eyebrow but went to sit next to Vasilisa. I sat down next to Rosmarie who turned her whole body to face the window.

"Were you really going to attack us?" I asked, trying to hide the brillance I felt to her about it. She kept her mouth closed and turned her body even more toward the window. I decided to continue, hoping that she was allowing me to. "Doing that.. protecting her like that- It was very brave." I paused, trying to carefully pick my words. "Stupid, but still brave. Why did you even try it?" Rose glaced at me, brushing her black hair away from her face, wafting a smell towards my nose.

Due to my heigtened senses, I smelt it straight away. Gorgeous. "Because I'm her guardian." She said, turning back to the window. Right. Typical guardian answer but it seemed more genuine when it came to Rose. Glancing at her again, I went back to the front and changed with Austin again. "Asked your desparate question, Belikov?" Austin teaste. I glared at him and he dissapeared quietly from sight. As we arrived back at the Academy, Austin with Rose but another guardian had taken over the charge of Vasilisa, I walked infront of the parade back. "Hey Comrade." Rose asked, sidaling up near me and trying to fall into step. I looked straight ahead, trying to ignore her. "You want to talk now?" I answered, trying to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. "Are you taking us to Kirova?" Rose asked, no panic what so ever in her voice.

"Headmistress Kirova" I corrected her. I had been given orders over the phone to take the girls straight to the head mistress who would then dismiss me off of this assignment. "Headmistress. Whatever. She's still a self-rightous old bit-" Rose said vemonatly. I tried not to smile as her words died on her lips. I had decided to take the... scenic route. Straight through the common room. All heads turned towards us, taking in the sight of the returning runaways. We arrived at the office where most of the guardians left apart from me and Alberta who was over seeing this.

We entered the office with me and Alberta taking places along the back to make sure the girls did not make an unfounded escape. "Vasilisa." A weak voice spoke up from the corner of the room. The voice came from the corner of the room when a frail man sat on a chair. Vasilisa ran up to the old man, hugging him tightly. "Uncle," Vasilisa whispered, her voice sad and quiet. Prince Victor Dashkov, who I had heard had a uncurable illness.

Victor patted Vasilisa gently on the back. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you safe, Vasilisa." He said then looked towards Rose. "And you too, Rose." Rose nodded her head in acknowledgement and sat staring at him for a few seconds more. Headmistress Kirova allowed them a few more minutes before taking Vasilisa back to her seat. She then started a lecture on the girls with a speech that would rival one of a royals.

Vasilisa had been sitting in shamefull silence until Headmistress Kirova turned her attention on Rose and she became more tensed. "You, Miss Hathaway, broke the most sacred pormised among our kind: the promise of a guardian to protect a Moroi. It is a great trust. A trust that you violated by selfishly taking the princess away from here. The strigoi would love to finish off the Dragomirs; you nearly enabled them to do it."

Ouch, even I thought that was harsh. Looking at the girls, you could clearly see Rose wouldn't even think of hurting Vasilisa. "Rose did not kidnap me" Vasilisa spoke, her face calm and devoid of all emotions. "I wanted to go, don't blame her". Headmistress Kirova tsked to herself, got up and started pacing the office.

"Miss Dragomir, you could have been the one who orchestrated the entire plan for all I know, but it was still her responsibility to make sure you did not carry it out. If she'd done her duty, she would have notified someone. If she'd done her duty, she would have kept you safe". Rose exploded from her seat, the chair teetering on the edge of falling over. Headmistress Kirova and I flinched.

"I did my duty!" Rose spat angrily, glaring at both of us. "I did keep her safe! I kept her safe when none of you" she spat, pausing to sweep an arm around the room "Could do it. I took her away to protect her. I did what I had to do. You certainly weren't going to." Rose's anger seemed to seeth out of every pore in her body; Vasilisa looked intently at her with a small sparkle in her eye.

Headmistress Kirova stared at Rose without the slightest hint of emotion. "Miss Hathaway, forgive me if I fail to see the logic of how taking her out of a heavily guarded, magically secured environment is protecting her. Unless there's something you aren't telling us?" Rose looked shiftily over to Vasilisa whilst biting her lip anxious.

"I see. Well, then. By my estimation, the only reason you left- aside from the novelty of it, no doubt- was to avoid the consequences of that horrible, destructive stunt you pulled just before your disappearance." Headmistress Kirova said, her face devoid of emotion but her voice had a slight taunting tone to it. "No, that's not-" Rose stammered. "And that only makes my decision that much easier. As a Moroi, the princess must continue on here at the academy for her own safety, but we have no such obligations to you. You will be sent away as soon as possible" She replied curtly, the mocking in her voice evident but her face still devoid of all emotion. Rose seemed too shocked to speak. "I...what?" She stammered, her confidence drying us in an instant as she looked towards Headmistress Kirova. Vasilisa stood up slowly, a direct contrast to Rose, and looked directly towards the Headmistress. "You can't do that! She's my guardian!" She said, anger sizzling beneath her skin unlike Rose who showed it openly. "She is no such thing, particularly since she isn't even a guardian at all. She's still a novice"

"But my parents-"

"I know what your parents wanted, God rest their souls, but things have changed. Miss Hathaway is expendable. She doesn't deserve to be a guardian, and she will leave". Rose stared at Headmistress Kirova, disbelief covering her face. It was obvious she did not care what happened to her as long as she did not have Vasilisa to protect. "Where are you going to send me? To my mum in Nepal? Did she even know I was gone? Or maybe you'll send me off to my father?" She glared at the Headmistress, challenge twinkling in her eyes. The Headmistress's eyes narrowed angrily before Rose spoke again in a cold and emotionless voice, looking scarily like The Headmistress had a few minutes ago. "Or maybe you're going to try to send me off to be a blood whore. Try that and we'll be gone by the end of the day" Her words shocked the whole room into silence, mainly mine at the feeble knowledge this novice knew but a bond like this was sacred. I knew only two other cases in the past hundreds of years. "Miss Hathaway, you are out of line" The Headmistress hissed angrily. I had to do something. "They have a bond" I spoke up quietly from the edge of the room, my voice sounding strange in the silent room. Everyone within the room turned to me but all I saw was the probing eyes of Rose, powerful emotions showing through her eyes that could not just be her own. Now we were locked in a gaze, I had to admit she was extremely beautiful but right at this moment, I had to concentrate on making sure Headmistress Kirova kept her here. "Rose knows what Vasilisa is feeling. Don't you?" I asked, hoping I wouldn't make a fool out of myself by it not being true. The Headmistress stole a shocked glance between Rose and myself before speaking. "No... that's impossible. That hasn't happened in centuries."

"It's obvious," I said. "I suspected as soon as I started watching them." Vasilisa and Rose remained silent but she averted her eyes from mine. I reluctantly looked back over to The Headmistress and the frail man that sat in the corner. "This is a gift," murmured Prince Victor from the corner. " A rare and wonderful thing"

"The best guardians always had that bond" I added. "In the stories" The Headmistress turned to me, her anger suddenly flaring us again with a passion."Stories that are centuries old," she exclaimed. "Surely you aren't suggesting we let her stay at the Academy after everything she's done?" I sighed internally at the stubbornness of this woman.

I shrugged, non-committed. "She might be wild and disrespectful, but if she had potential-"

"Wild and disrespectful?" Rose burst out, interupting me with venom. "Who the hell are you anyway? Outsourced help?" She yelled. I felt like laughing at this. I had years far beyone what she had, yet I was being treated at an immigrant. "Guardian Belikov is the princess's guardian now," Said The Headmistress. "Her sanctioned guardian"

"You got cheap foreign labour to protect Lissa?" Rose burst out, the face contorting horribly. I restrained myself from physically recoiling from her words. Instead, I mearly shook my head slightly with an exasperated sigh. This novice knew nothing of my past, why was I even trying to help her?

Headmistress Kirova through up her hands in disgust and turned to me angrily. "You see? Completely undisciplined! All the psychic bonds and very raw potential in the world can't make up for that. A guardian without discipline is worse than no guardian"

This was not going the way I wanted it too and Rose just wasn't helping her own case. "So teach her discipline. Classes just started. Put her back in and get her training again"

"Impossible. She'll still be hopelessly behind her peers" The Headmistress exclaimed, shaking her head, unconvinced.

"No I won't," Rose argued, not seeing that most of this argument was done to her, although we all seemed to ignore her.

"Then give her extra training sessions" I suggested, not even giving a thought to anything practical, just getting this strangely compelling young girl to stay. For what seemed like hours, we argued on any compromise we could come to in regards to the situation but it seemed we were both as stubborn as each other.

"Who's going to put in the extra time?" The Headmistress demanded. "You?" My argument stopped in its tracks before it became verbal. Why should I give my time to a girl who seems unwilling to listen to anyone and thinks she is untouchable.

"Yes. That's what I thought" Headmistress Kirova smiled, folding her arms with satisfaction. I do not know if, on that day, it was just the look of her face or because these girls looked like they needed someone to watch over them, I had to help them. With a look of satisfaction lingering behind my stern glare, I turned to Headmistress Kirova.

"Yes," I said, struggling not to smile at her expression. "I can mentor Rose. I'll give her extra sessions along with her normal ones."

"And then what?" Headmistress Kirova retorted. "She goes unpunished?"

"Find some other way to punish her," I answered, shrugging my shoulders slightly. "Guardian numbers have gone down too much to risk losing another. A girl, in particular" I hoped to trigger, by my words, thoughts of 'blood whores' and where she may ultimately end up if she was not trained correctly. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Rose shudder slightly.

"I'm inclined to agree with Guardian Belikov. Sending Rose away would be a shame, a waste of talent" Victor spoke up from the corner, his frail voice barely audible in the small, shabby room. Headmistress Kirova stared out of her window contemplatively, although she may not see much of the outside. Guardians barely saw the daylight because of the nocturnal schedules of our assignments. She turned back slowly, taking in the surrounding scene as if she had just woken from a rather unpleasant dream.

"Please, Ms Kirova. Let Rose stay" Lissa pleaded directly to the Headmistress. Rose looked at her friend warily but seemed satisfied that she did not need to intervene this time. Headmistress Kirova sighed heartily and turned to face Rose.

"If Miss Hathaway stays, here's how it will be. Your continued enrollment at St. Vladimir's is strictly probationary. Step out of line once and you're gone. You will attend all classes and required trainings for Novices your age. You will also train with Guardian Belikov in every spare moment you have-before and after classes. Other than that, you are banned from all social activities, except meals, and will stay in your dorm. Fail to comply with any of this and you will be sent... away." As always, Headmistress Kirova was harsh but fair but it still all seemed a little extreme. Even I could see, she was doing a good job with Vasilisa.

Rose barked, her laughter harsh. "Banned from all social activities? Are you trying to keep up apart?" Rose looked over to Vasilisa who seemed to be praying Rose said nothing untoward. "Afraid we'll run away again?"

"I'm taking precautions. As I'm sure you recall, you were never properly punished for destroying school property. You have a lot of make up for" Her lips straightened into a thin line. "You are being offered a very generous deal. I suggest you don't let your attitude endanger it."

I turned sharply to Rose as she went to open her mouth to object. I had a feeling Headmistress Kirova's patience was running thin and one more word from this headstrong novice and young lady. If they even thought once about running away, well this brave idiot that sat near me now would become a brave idiot without training or a job. Rose's eyes met mine in an furiously hopeful glance as did Vasilisa's. Rose looked down at the floor suddenly before her head creeped up again and glared at The Headmistress.

"Fine, I accept"


	3. Chapter 3

**Woo, third chapter guys. You're lucky I've disregarding course work for this because I love doing it so much. But who actually cares!**

**Thank you for the reviews and the story adds, much love but please show this to your friends.**

**Love you guys! xx**

**I won no rights at all to this, they are all Richelle's. Grrr, I love you!**

I fought the urge to wipe my eyes blearily. I had been awake for over twelve hours and face another eight. All of this plus the jet lag from the plane made my normally nimble feet drag. All because of these two.

Alberta and I escorted Rose to her first class inside the guardians gym. We all walked in stony silence, Alberta looking back every few minutes and shaking her in astonishment. We entered the gym and all movement stopped completely. Some stared open mouthed as we paraded her through the gym. Suddenly she smiled and broke away from us, going to talk to a untidy red haired boy.

"Hey, Mason, wipe that drool off your face. If you're going to think about me naked, do it in your own time"

The gym was peppered with small sniggers from her classmates as she tried to re-establish her place between them.

This is my time, Hathaway. I'm leading today's session" The boy, Mason, teased her back.

"Oh yeah?" Rose retorted, smiling. "Huh. Well. I guess this is a good time to think about me naked, then."

"It's always a good time to think about you naked" Added someone nearby. Tired of the exchange, I shook my head and turned away from them.

I knew this was only young novices having a joke but sometimes, I just wish they were a little more mature. Maybe if they spent the time they spent talking and joking on actual training, they may even graduate. "Незрелые detyeĭ. Они не должны неуважение женщины так" I muttered quietly to myself as I exited the gym.

I peeled off towards my room and poured myself a coffee. I figured I may have a few minutes so I sat down on my bed and found the last page of my western novel and sipped my coffee until a knock sounded on my door. "Belikov, you might want to see this. Your young runaway is getting cut to pieces by Alto" Alberta called through the door, her hair framing her face. I looked up from my book, raising an eyebrow inquisitively.

"You mean Rose?" I answered, mentally bookmarking my page and getting up calmly from the bed. Alberta looked at me strangely as I laid my stone cold cup of coffee back onto the dresser and followed her out of the room. "Yes, Rosemarie, if that's who you mean. He's been cutting her to pieces for a few minutes and he seems to set up for a full rant. We might want to be there. Oh and if anyone asks, they needed extra protection" she smiled, almost reading my strange protectiveness of Rose.

We arrived just as Stan was demanding she go to the front of the class. She turned to face her classmates, her eyes registering panic for the first time I had known her. Her eyes settled on mine before Stan started again.

"So Hathaway," Stan said, a little too cheerily, pacing in front of Rose. "Enlighten us about your protective techniques"

Rose froze for a minute before continuing. "My...techniques?"

"Of course. Because presumably you must have had some sort of plan the rest of us couldn't understand when you took an underage Moroi royal out of the Academy and exposed her to constant Strigoi threats" Stan said coldly, sounding all too similar to Headmistress Kirova.

"We never ran into any Strigoi" Rose replied, her voice stiff with anxiety?

"Obviously," He said with a cutting snicker. "I already figured that out, seeing as how you're still alive"

Anger bubbled up inside me, small bubbles that might choke me if there wasn't the truth lingering in each one. Rose obviously knew this too as she remained quiet. Stan resumed pacing the classroom, his footsteps cutting into the panic but intrested silence of the class.

"So what'd you do? How'd you make sure she stayed safe? Did you avoid going out at night?" Stan inquired, possibly already knowing what the answer would be.

"Sometimes" Rose answered, seeming somewhat embarrassed at this answer. As she should be.

"Sometimes" Stan mimicked in a higher voice, making Rose seem idiotic. "Well then, I suppose you slept during the day and stayed on guard at night." Stan inquired, yet again, already knowing the answer.

"Er...no"

"No? But that's one of the first things mentioned in the chapter on solo guarding. Oh wait, you wouldn't know that because you weren't here." Stan announced, as if the whole class didn't already realise. I had to admit, he could have saved this until a quieter tie or phrased it in a better way but that just wasn't Stan's way.

"I watched the area whenever we went out" Rose tried to compromise, knowing she was quickly losing this unwinnable argument.

"Oh? Well that's something. Did you use the Carnegie's Quad Surveillance Method or the Rotational Survey?" Stan sai, barely containing a laugh. He knew this could never happen because there was only one person, barely enough to guard a Moroi, let alone a royal.

"Ah.I'm guessing you use the Hathaway Glance-Around-When-You-Remember-To Method"

"No!" Rose exclaimed angrily, close to the anger she had had barely three hours ago. "That's not true. I watched her. She's still alive, isn't she?"

Stan walked over to her and leaned towards her menacingly. "Because you got lucky"

"Strigoi aren't lurking around every corner out there," Rose shot back, her face inches away from Stan's. "It's not like what we've been taught. It's safer than you guys make it sound" I felt like laughing at her and taking her to show her the real world. One where Strigoi did lurk around every corner and killed people whenever they wanted. One which nearly took my life several times.

"Safer? Safer? We are at war with the Strigoi!" He yelled loudly, causing the children to jerk back slightly. "One of them could walk right up to you and snap your pretty little neck before you even noticed him- and he'd barely break a sweat doing it. You might have more speed or strength than a Moroi or a human but you are nothing, nothing, compared to a Strigoi. They are deadly and they are powerful. And do you know what makes them more powerful?" Stan whispered menacingly, even I could hear the anger and sneer in his voice.

Rose peered around him and her eyes met mine for a scared second, her eyes gleaming uncharacteristically before she turned back. The line of guardians that stood near me showed no sign of emotion, our faces stone. We were told to control emotions, unable to show enemies if we were in pain and hurt and Rose was doing none of that right now.

"Moroi Blood" Rose whispered, her voice cutting the silence so even the loudest person could hear her.

"What was that?" Stan asked loudly, knowing full well what she said. "I didn't catch it"

Rose span around quickly, making me flinch from a foreseeable slap. "Moroi blood! Moroi blood makes them stronger" Rose spat, surprisingly her hand not coming into contact with his face.

Stan stepped back, his face full of a recognisable smugness. "Yes. It does. It makes them stronger and harder to destroy. They'll kill and drink from a human or dhampir, but they want Moroi blood more than anything else. They seek it. They've turned to the darkside to gain immortality, and they want to do what ever they can to keep that immortality. Desperate Strigoi have attacked Moroi in public. Groups of Strigoi have raided academies exactly like this one. There are Strigoi who have lived for thousands of years and fed off generations of Moroi. They're almost impossible to kill. And that is why Moroi numbers are dropping. They aren't strong enough- even with guardians- to protect themselves. Some Moroi don't even see the point of running anymore and are simply turning to Strigoi by choice. And as the Moroi disappear..."

"So do the dhampirs" Rose whispered in return. Harsh but fair as always, Stan...

"Well," he said, licking his dry lips happily. "It looks as if you learned something after all. Now we'll have to see if you can learn enough to pass this class and qualify for your field experience next semester." Stan replied smugly before dismissing Rose back to her seat. The lesson passed slowly, with thankfully no more eventful moments. It seemed after this class I was in the same class as Rose again in Weight Training and Conditioning where I saw her skills had not been used whilst out of the Academy. I could see she would need a lot of work and we may even have to start from the basics, yet again. Another class afterwards which involved training but no Rose. As I left to have finally a relaxing lunch hour to myself, I spotted Rose stumbling across the campus. I fell in to step with her until she noticed me. "I suppose you saw what happened in Stan's class?" Rose asked, her voice smothered in sarcasm.

"Yes"

"And you don't think it was unfair?" Rose asked, her voice having an underlay of a child like demeanor.

"Was he right? Do you think you were fully prepared to protect Vasilisa?" I asked, avoiding the question completely.

Rose look disdainfully as the ground as if she were a disgraced child. "I kept her alive" She murmured quietly, shuffling along beside me.

"How did you do fighting against your classmates today?" I asked her out of politeness, I already knew the answer.

"If you can't fight them-" I continued before she rudely cut me off.

"Yeah, yeah, I know" Rose snapped.

I slowed down slightly as she looked to be in a lot of pain, no doubt a result from the painful strikes that that Mason boy had given her.

"You're strong and fast by nature. You just need to keep yourself trained. Didn't you play any sports while you were gone?" I asked, suprised at how badly out of shape she actually was.

"Sure," Rose shrugged undecidedly. "Now and then"

"You didn't join any teams?" I asked, restraining myself from rasing an eyebrow.

"Too much work. If I'd wanted to practice that much, I'd have stayed here."

I looked at her, wondering why I even tryed to save an opinionated and stubborn girl like herself . But then I remembered why I had even tried.

"You'll never be able to really protect the princess if you don't hone your skills. You'll always be lacking"

"I'll be able to protect her," Rose retorted furiously.

"You have no guarantees of being assigned to her, you know- for your field experience or after you graduate" My voice was low and truth filled, trying to knock some sense into this stubborn... girl. "No one wants to waste the bond- but no one's going to give her an inadequate guardian either. If you want to be with her, then you need to work for it. You have your lessons. You have me. Use us or don't. You're an ideal choice to guard Vasilisa when you both graduate- if you can prove you're worthy. I hope you will"

Rose, the wind seemingly knocked from her, remained silent for a minute.

"Lissa, call her Lissa" she corrected me. I muffled a small laugh and instead shook my head and walked away from her.

I travelled over to the dormitory again, desperate to forget the conversation that kept swirling around in my head by sinking into my new western book. "Hey, Belikov" A voice sounded from the shadows.

I turned around sharply, my senses alert and on edge. "Woah, Cowboy. It's only me" The voice laughed, stepping out of the 's face loomed with a wonky smile.

"How the great escapers doing. Still here, I hope?" he laughed, extending a hand. I shook it briefly before we began walking back to the dormitory.

"Yes, Ellen came up with compromise that seemed fair to my eyes but apparently was hell on Earth for dear Rose." I answered, some of the bitterness I felt about the day mingling with jet lag to create a bubble of anger inside of me for the aggravating Rose.

Austin laughed harshly before laying a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"You'll be okay eventually, Belikov. She seems determined to work even if she's a little stubborn to listen." He replied honestly before splitting off to go into his room with a small nod of his head.

I quickly devoured a sandwich I had made earlier before lying down onto my bed. As I drifted of into a sleep which I knew would only last barely two hours, all my thoughts lingered on Rose. Always Rose...


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all of the reviews and the story adds, it really means a lot.**

**Sorry for the short chapter but this is the only way I can keep to the chapters. Sorry as well if it's a little messed up, I got a bit confused DX Oh and just a little idea with the dream sequence, please tell if it works or not :D**

**I own no rights to this book, even though I want to.**

I awoke to a loud banging on my door followed by a low pitched voice.

"Hey, Belikov, you dead in there?" Stan laughed harshly before knocking once more n moving away. I sat up groggily from my brief, dream filled sleep.

(A/N Dream sequence of Dimitri's, a little thought of mine)

_Rose sat on my bed, a white dress clinging to her mercilessly, her eyes alight with happiness. Our engagement party was being thrown by Rose's mother, even though Rose didn't want to agree. "Dimitri, darling, can you put this on for me?" Rose smiled sweetly, a dainty necklace hanging from her little finger. I smiled back at her before delicately clasping the silver pendant around her neck, my heart racing more than when I had fought Strigoi. I stroked her neck for the second, enjoying the long locks of satin that ran down her back in waves. "Dimitri, don't! I won't be leaving this room otherwise" Rose giggled , turning around to face me and then kissed me gently. "Who says I want you to?" I answered decisively before kissing her roughly and pushing her down on to the bed._

I shook the longing from my bones with a stern voice. "Dimitri, she is seven years younger than you. What are you thinking?" I told myself off, knowing full well that scenario could never, ever take place.

I checked my watch before heading off to the last class before I had the extra training with Rose. I shook myself aggressively, determined not to let the beautiful thoughts of the dream over take me again. The hour was uneventful but the lesson was good to be in.

I was able to oversee the training of other novices as well as soon to be graduate's so It gave me ideas for Rose's training. Her again, always her. Soon the hour ended and I wandered over to Rose's last class where she was nowhere to be seen.

I sighed heartily before asking her teacher where she had gone. After he shrugged, unconcerned, I trekked around to the front of the school where I spotted Rose's distinct form from a distance. My heart skipped slightly and I was forced to stop until I could convince myself nothing would ever happen. Unfortunately.

I walked over to Rose who was still absorbed in her conversations. "Rose?" I asked warily, not wanting to interrupt her conversation."You're late for practice" I said evenly, still trying to steady my heartbeat. With my inner concentration on myself, I hadn't noticed Princess Vasilisa standing opposite her. "Princess" I nodded.

We started walking away, Roses pace a little slower than my own. Suddenly, Rose stopped, her body stiffening with an unseen force.

"Rose?" I asked, impressed by her party trick. Touching her shoulder lightly, I said her name again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Woo, fifth chapter already! Time flies, as they say.**

**This may be the last time I post for a few days though (sad face) because it's my birthday (happy face!) and I've got my party and I've got to play on my presents (Wii!) of course.**

**The latest I will probably get it to you in next weekend :( because on top if this, I have tests :(**

**I will try my hardest though because I love doing this so much. Forgive me if I don't.**

**Once again, I own no rights to this they all belong to Richelle. Hey, maybe she can giv them to me for my birthday! hehe**

It was too long before rose responded and Rose was still not responding. "Rose? Rose?" I asked again worriedly. I laid my hands on her shoulders, shaking her gently.

Rose blinked before looking at me intently.

"Are you alright?" I asked, frowning worriedly at her.

"I...yeah. I was with Lissa..." She put a hand gently to her forehead. "I was in her head."

"Her...head?" I inquired, unsure of what she meant. I didn't want to press her more for the answer and I was also still positive she wasn't okay.

"Yeah. It's part of the bond" Rose said wearily.

"Is she alright?" I asked, mainly out of politeness.

"Yeah, she's..." Rose trailed off before taking a breath and talking again. "She's not in danger," Rose continued, steadying her breath.

"Can you keep going?" I asked her, hoping my worry wasn't showing through my face. Unfortunately by the shock that was showing on Rose's face, I was positive that my face was covered in worry. I shook myself slightly before looking back at her.

"Yeah. I'm fine" She assured me before trekking down to the gym dressing room. I smiled with contentment despite myself once she was gone. As she came back up, she looked as beautiful in her gym wear as she did in jeans and a t-shirt.

"Hey, maybe we can leave it today, my muscles are killing me" Rose complained. I laughed at her joke before she looked at me seriously.

"Why is that funny?"

"Oh," I said before I dropped my smile. "You were serious"

"Of course I was! Look, I've technically been awake for two days. Why do we have to start training now? Let me go to bed,"Rose whined. "It's just one hour"

I restrained myself from laughing. I had been up the exact same amount as her, maybe even a lot more.

I crossed my arms decisively before looking down on her with disdain, all earlier concern gone with the mention of work and her lack of work ethic. "How do you feel right now? After the training you've done so far?"

"I hurt like hell" Rose moaned like a small child.

"You'll feel worse tomorrow" I promised.

"So?"

"So better to jump in now while you still feel...not as bad" I trailed off, not sure that my logic was all that useful to her.

"What kind of logic is that?" she retorted.

I restrained from laughing once again as I led her into the weight room and showed her what I wanted her to do. With a contented sigh, I sat down in the corner with my western novel which was a little more romance based than I wanted but at least it took my mind off of my own romantic anguish. Sometimes I sneakily glanced at Rose who was too interested in keeping herself upright with her aching muscles.

I stood up alongside Rose when she looked close to near exhaustion, showing her stretches to cool down.

"How'd you end up as Lissa's guardian?" Rose asked. "You weren't here a few years ago. Were you even trained at this school?"

Words froze on my lips as I thought back to my childhood. This was too painful but yet I felt obliged to tell her at least where I studied for a reason. Anything so she knew more about me. "No. I attended the on in Siberia"

"Whoa. That's got to be the only place worse than Montana"

I suppressed a smile because this subject was so painful to talk about and half of the guardians on the campus didn't even know about my past.

"After I graduated, I was a guardian for a Zeklos lord. He was killed recently" Thoughts of my past flooded back and my smile disappeared along with the rest of the world. "They sent me here because they needed extras on campus.

When the princess turned up, they assigned me to her, since I'd already be around. Not that it matters until she leaves campus" Memories bubbled beneath the surface of my past assignment, threatening to bubble over the sides and ruin myself completely.

"Did this lord die on your watch?" Rose asked, her voice a bit gentler than normal.

"No. He was with his other guardian. I was away." I answered painfully, those memories getting closer and closer to the surface.

"So sorry for your loss..." "He will be dealt with promptly, Mr Belikov." "We're reasigning you to St Vladimir's Academy"

I shook myself from these painful memories as Rose began speaking again, her voice having a lilting edge to her voice this time.

"Hey," Rose said, a small smile on her lips, "did you help come up with the plan to get us back? Because it was pretty good. Brute force and all that?"

I arched an eyebrow inquisitively, knowing that really she was trying to cheer me up, not compliment my techniques.

"Your complimenting me on that?

"Well it was a hell of a lot better than the last one they tried." Rose said. My face screwed up, extremely confused about what was being pieced together. The Academy had concentrated for weeks on trying to find them once, the first time was when I had found them.

"Last one?"

"Yeah. In Chicago. With the pack of psi-hounds"

"This was the first time we found you. In portland"

Rose sat up slowly, her bruised muscles forcing her into a painful sitting position. "Um, I don't think I imagined psi-hounds. Who else could have sent them? They only answer to Moroi. Maybe no one told you about it" Rose suggested.

Somewhat sceptical about this I nodded and answered, "Maybe." Dismissively, I turned away from her as she made her way back to the dorm.

All of the stress from the past few days remained in my bones, desperate to escape. Even though I was almost limp from lack of sleep, I need to work this out. I reached for the weights, lifting them effortlessly before doing a few sets of reps. Still it wasn't enough as thoughts of Rose still swam in my head, refusing to leave until I was utterly distracted. I pulled off my duster to be replaced with a pair of jogging bottoms and a loose t-shirt as well as my battered running shoes.

After a few laps around the quad, the thoughts still stayed in the back of head but were cloaked by a sheen of exhaustion. Knowing nothing would even remove her from my mind completely, I gave up and collected my stuff from the locker rooms and retreated back to my dormitory. I slumped onto my bed, my 'god like' demeanor as I had heard some of the novices call me, dropped completely. With a small, unhappy glance towards my battered and abandoned western novel which I suddenly longed for, I fell into a deep sleep. Strangely dreamless this time.

I woke up groggily to a golden light shining through the thin, white-washed curtains which did nothing to black out simple day break in the Dhampir dorms. For obvious reasons, blackout curtains were used in the Moroi dorm.

After an internal argument within myself, I decided to spend a few hours with my western novel before a morning jog, which guardians were allowed to do. Thankfully, the jog woke me up completely and tiring me at the same time. I climbed back into bed, determined to at least get a few hours sleep before my training session of the morning with Rose.

I woke up again, determined to keep my mind set on the training today, not on what Rose looked like. I changed into my jeans quickly, walking down to the gym where Rose waited impatiently outside. With a slight nod, we entered the gym where she changed quickly and went to work on the weights again, her movements twice as slow as they were yesterday.

I could see how much pain she was in but, although It pained me to say, she needed this training. We finished the training and as Rose headed off to her classes, I readied myself for half a day on guarding. After gathering my bag and taking it back to the dorm, I headed over to the first class of the day.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hiya, sorry this is another short chapter, it all keeps in time with the chapters and all that.**

**Turns out I can be a really fast writer and managed to write this on the same night as the fifth one. Amazing of me much! It's still nearly my birthday so try not to hope too hard for another chapter**

**Anyway, I own no rights to this story.**

**Much love to you all 3**

After my day full of commitment and another training session with Rose, who was still as tired as she was that morning, I retired gladly to my dormitory. "Hey Belikov, fancy coming for a match down at the gym? I've wanted to take you down since you first came here" Stan Alto smiled, making me think that with one false move, it may turn into a dangerous smirk.

As much as I wanted to knock Stan out cold, I knew we were short on guardians so we needed partners within the group. Besides the fact he gave Rose the cold, hard truth, he was just too confident for his own good.

"Not today, Alto. You know I am going to keep refusing, I do not want to cause trouble" I smiled politely before roughly barging into my own room. With a groan, I punched the dummy that I had brought with a ferocity I had never felt before. Something about Rose brought out the worst, but also the best, in me.

The next day, I attended my usual church service in the early morning. Once there, I sat quietly at the back with my head bowed, not bothering to listen to much of what the priest said.

At one point, I looked from the corner of my eye and, with astonishment, I noticed that Rose was sitting a few pews behind me.

Somehow, she had managed to trick Ellen into thinking she was religious, I figured it was the only way she could have gotten out of that tight leash she was on. Eventually I was able to get back to my contemplative thoughts. There was only one reason I went to this service every sunday at a ridiculous hour. It was because I needed to seek forgiveness for all I had hurt, Strigoi or not.

Either way, they had all had normal and human souls once and it had not been their fault, most of the time, to turn. As the service ended, I crept silently from the room before the rest of the congregation noticed I was even there. As it had been a sunday, we were allowed the day off. I re-entered my room and picked up the battered western once again for a few hours of novel escape before I was scheduled to meet Alberta.

The hours passed in a blur and before long, Alberta was knocking at my door, tentatively this time. "Hello, Dimitri. You ready?" she asked, nodding her head towards her clothes laden bag. Suppressing a wide smile, a picked up my bag I had prepared the day before and headed out after her.

As Alberta had more years experience than myself, although maybe a little less light on her feet. We had spent the past few months practicing every sunday and I had learnt a lot from her. A few hours later, when I was past the line of being able to ever think of thinking of thoughts of Rose.

We retired back to our respective rooms where I took a small drink of low alcohol drink before collapsing onto the bed. All I seemed to be doing recently was sleeping and thinking of Rose. Something wasn't right within me. Not this time.


	7. Chapter 7

**Woo, hey everyone. I had an awesome birthday. This may be the last post this week but there will be a lot next week as I'm on work ex so no hmwk! Wooo**

**Will try to get at least a few done during those weeks.**

**Thanks for reviews/adds guys :D**

**Okay, still own no rights to the book, I guess Rochelle's present is late...**

The weeks past in a training blur but luckily Rose's movements and mobility were greatly increased. I packed my bag for the day, getting ready for the early morning training with Rose, I realised it had been exactly three weeks since I had brought Rose back to the Academy but it barely felt like a few days. I slung the surprisingly light bag, despite what was in it, and headed towards the gym where I was early. I set up the stereo with "When Doves cry" by Prince, the song that had intrigued me recently. After this, I sprawled on a mat near the stereo, reading a Louis L'amour book, which I had moved onto. Albeit the romance, the book was keeping my interest. And then I waited.

"Whoa, Dimitri," Rose said, casually dropping her bag to the floor near the entrance. "I realise this is actually a current hit in Eastern Europe right now, but do you think we could maybe listen to something that wasn't recorded before I was born?"

I glanced up at her quickly, really not looking for a disagreement. "What does it matter you? I'm the one who's going to be listening to it. You'll be outside running" I replied, retaining a wide smirk at her, who looked like a sullen child.

"Hey," Rose questioned, moving on to the second lot of stretches."what's with the running anyway? I mean, I realise the importance of stamina and all that, but shouldn't I be moving on to something with a little hitting? They're still killing me in group practice"

"Maybe you should hit harder" I replied, unconcerned.

"I'm serious?"

"Hard to tell the difference" I answered, firing back her own snarky comments. I set down my book reluctantly but didn't move from my position. "My job is to get you ready to defend the princess and fight dark creatures, right?

"Yup"

"So tell me this: suppose you managed to kidnap her again and take her off to the mall. While your there, a Strigoi comes at you. What will you do?"

"Depends on what store we're in" Rose replied

I looked at her, barely hiding my astonishment.

"Fine. I'll stab him with a silver stake"

I sat up quickly, crossing my legs with what I hoped was a small amount of grace, considering I had had a rather sleepless night last night. The dreams plagued with Rose. "Oh?" I looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "Do you have a silver stake? Do you even know how to use one?" I answered, knowing rightly she had no idea what so ever.

"Okay, I'll cut his head off"

"Ignoring the fact you don't have a weapon to do that, how will you compensate for the fact that he may be a foot taller than you?"

Rose straightened up, her face twisted with a childlike annoyance. "Fine, then I'll set him on fire"

"Again, with what"

"Alright, I give up. You've already got the answer. You're just messing with me. I'm at the mall and I see a Strigoi. What do I do?"

I looked at her, if she couldn't even get the simplest answers right, how did she expect to pass? "You run"

Rose looked at me with anger plastered on her face and thought again. I hadn't had my daily run that day, too busy with trying to get myself ready for an hour of nothing.

As she finished her stretches, I got up slowly from my position and stood behind her. "I think I may run with you today, Rose" I answered before getting changed and pulling on my running shoes.

We set off running, planning to do three miles. I made sure that I kept my pace slower than normal, determined not to make Rose collapse before she had even started her classes. Suddenly, Rose picked up the pace. Impressed at her determination, I kept the pace she had set, which was only slightly away from my own.

After the third-to-last loop, other novices passed us by to go to group practice. "Good form, Rose!" The boy, Mason, yelled loudly. Rose smiled and waved back.

Even though I knew it was utterly harmless, it still stabbed me hard. "Your slowing down," I snapped, my voice coming out harsher than I had wanted it to.

"Is this why your times aren't getting faster? You're easily distracted?" I asked, covering up my care for her with typical guardian speech.

Rose increased her pace again, her body working furiously from my comments.

At the end, we checked her time and I noticed she had shaved two minutes off of her times. I was extremely impressed, maybe I shouldn't praise her as much.

"Not bad, huh?" Rose called as we did our cool down stretches. "Looks like I could get as far as the Limited before the Strigoi got me at the mall. Not sure how Lissa would do" Rose said, skeptically.

"If she was with you, she'd be okay" I answered truthfully, determined that Rose did not doubt herself. She was a committed student and because of that, she had dramatically increased her health.

Rose looked up in surprise as I looked down at her, making sure my wall came down and she noticed my approval.

Suddenly, without a second glance back at me, Rose took off. Her legs powered faster than I had ever seen her in training, despite running Three miles. I took off after her, knowing if I didn't concentrate, I would barely catch her.

"Rose, what's wrong?" I asked her, as I was barely half a metre away from her back. The Moroi dorm came into view, as did Lissa.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Rose asked, worriedly. I kept behind them, alert for any Strigoi that lurked in the shadows, waiting to kill Lissa.

I quickly made a hurried call to Ellen who dispatched a further three guardians. We all walked into the dorm, Rose clutching Lissa protectively.

I noticed the dead fox on the bed at the same time Natalie did. I stepped back from the frey and shook my head, disgusted. How could anyone do this to another human being, let alone a young Moroi royal. It neck had been slit so its red, jelly like blood spewed onto the quilt cover. Since I had seen numerous amounts of disgusting death and this was no patch on the worst of them.

"It's going to be okay. Everythings going to be okay" Rose assured Lissa after a few minutes of fervent whispering. Lissa nodded, looking away from Rose.

"Get this cleaned up," Kirova snapped at the Matron. "And find out if anyone saw anything."

Austin, one of the guardians that had been called to help, came over to me.

"Belikov, Rose isn't meant to be in here. Get her out of here before Ellen gives her hell" he whispered to me, averting his gaze away from Lissa's bed. I nodded once before heading over to Rose.

"It's time to go, Rose. You know you're not meant to be in here" I said to her after pulling her to one side. She begged me feverishly before suggesting since she had brought us there, she should stay.

I disagreed and I escorted her back to the Novices' dorm.

"You know something. Something about what happened. Is this what you meant when you told Headmistress Kirova that Lissa was in danger?"

"I don't know anything. It's just some sick joke" Rose said, obviously lying.

"Do you have any idea who'd do it? Or why?" I questioned again, knowing that sometime, she would have to tell me.

Rose seemed to think, her face straight with concentration.

"No," she said. "No clue"

My irritation climbed to a new level. This could progress into something much more serious, maybe even life threatening.

"Rose, if you know something, tell me. We're on the same side. We both want to protect her. This is serious" I practically begged her.

She spun around on her heel, her anger palpable through the air. "Yes, it is serious. It's all serious. And you have me doing laps every day when I should be learning to fight and defend her. If you want to help her, then teach me something. Teach me how to fight. I already know how to run away" Rose yelled at me.

I looked at her calmly, knowing exactly how she felt. This was how I felt when I found out about Lord Zeklos. I felt like hitting the whole world repeatedly for my own stupidity. Now, my eyes should have been fully planted on the job. But now they seemed to be planted on her.

I beckoned her forward calmly. "Come one. You're late for practice."


	8. Chapter 8

**Hiya, it's me again ^.^ woo. Anyway,back to this. One more day before I get three weeks of every night without homework.**

**Now, I love you all but don't forget to review. I don't want to be writing to myself ;)**

**Anyway, still own no rights to this book, they all belong to Rochelle. I guess I'm not getting them now -.-**

After my eventful day with Rose, all I wanted to do was run and sleep. And not particularly in that order. Of course, I had my guardian duties to do but I had the rest of the day on my own as I didn't have to guard any classes.

The morning session with Rose had gone well, her determination from the day before still evident in her actions. When she left for her classes, I remained in the gym and weight lifted for a few hours before taking off on a three mile run on the track.

Suddenly, Stan stepped in to the path I was in with a non smiling face. "Come on, just once, that's all. I want to see if that bad attitude transmit to your fighting." Stan said without a friendly smile this time.

I sighed angrily before stepping around him and running around the track again. Every Time he asked, it inched me closer to actually fighting him and knocking him down with every inch of strength I had in me.

I needed to see Ellen, I was thinking too much of Rose and it was becoming extremely distracting.

I knocked lightly on the Headmistresses door, determined not to show my frustration at all to her. "Excuse me, Ellen, can we talk" I asked, treading quietly into her room.

She looked up from her desk, agitated at my disturbance of her business, tilting her head slightly.

"Take a seat, Belikov. I want to know what you have to say, even though I know what it is" Ellen frowned, pushing her work to the side and putting her hands under her chin contemplatively.

"I can't work with her, Ellen. She is stubborn and will not listen to orders. Surely, there must be another guardian willing to take on a larger challenge than themselves." I practically begged Ellen.

She looked at me, raising an eyebrow skeptically. "Belikov, from what I understand, you are the master of responding and keeping to order. She's improved in the last week, under your guidance. To be completely honest, Guardian Belikov, I think you are the best man for the job" Ellen ended, looking longingly towards the stack of flowing paper which had mounted up more since I had come into the room.

I opened my mouth to object but Ellen quieted me with a wave of her hand.

"Honestly, Dimitri, who else will take her in now? You seem to be the only Guardian who can stand her, 'quirky' as she puts it, remarks?" She smiled stiffly before dismissing me with a wave of her hand.

I nodded once before turning away, storming away once I came out of her office. As I paced within my room like a trapped cat.

I couldn't run now, it always reminded me of her, the way she ran to Lissa's safety that day. Her powerful legs burning with determination.

I shook my head with anger, just as determined to keep the thoughts away from the part of my brain that dealt with training and business.

I settled back down with my book, another one which involve romance. This time a forbidden romance.

It...it involved a teacher and a student. As I read it, all I began to think of was what Rose and I would do, if we were in that situation.

**(A/n, another little bit here, just my little interpretation of what Dimitri's imagination may be like. Appreciated it if you tell me what you think of it x)**

_The horses shuffled slowly towards our destination, the hooves of the Horses hitting the ground softly._

_"Rose, we're here" I spoke softly, looking over to the beautiful lady who sat side-saddle on the horse next to mine._

_She smiled kindly as I offered my hand to take her from the horse._

_She was my student, Rose and I had decided to show her the beautiful landscape that surrounded a cabin, a few miles away from the school._

_"As you can see, the trees bloom a orange leaf only once a year. You're lucky" I smiled to her. _

_We watched the receding sun as it clambered back down the Horizon, while we sat on the beautiful carved bench. My grandfather had carved the bench, not that I would ever tell that to Rose._

_I looked over to her, the sunlight sparkling off of her emerald eye. I swear to everyone that if anyone saw her like I could see her now, my heart would break._

_Yes, I was in love with my student, poor dependable Roza who saw me as her old teacher._

_"Sir" Roza whispered, which caused me to turn in her direction. She looked at me intently, her eyes searching my face endlessly._

_Suddenly, she leaned forwards and caught my lips in hers, a gentle gesture that made my body respond to her fully. Just as quickly as she had kissed me she pulled away, the setting sun highlighting the blush that covered her cheeks._

_"Oh my, Sir. I am sorry. I said I was" She blushed furiously, her southern drawl peaking in the middle of her sentence._

_I shook my head at her but smiled warmly. I captured her lips in mine and that's when I decided I could never let her go, not for anything. Not even the certain warpath her parents would take when they found out her teacher was in love with her._

I snapped out of my daydream of the book, the vision so real, it made me want to cry with want. I had to admit now, Rose wasn't going anywhere.

I was just going to try not to touch her, but even then, I knew I wouldn't keep that promise to myself.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hiya, it's me again! Woo, next chapter is here and I'm about to go on work experience so lots more to come (hopefully!)**

**Anyway, thanks everyone for the reviews. Especially the really helpfull ones. I'm new at this so I'm open to constructive criticism. **

**Once again, I own no rights to this, they all belong to Rochelle. Anyway, roll on the story :D**

I slept at night fitfully, the dreams become so real and vivid, I longed to sleep just so I could have the dreams again.

I also started to read a lot, my imagination getting me into trouble when I was late for the beginning of guarding classes with the other Guardians.

The afternoon rehearsal with Rose went worse than usual as her concentration was off completely.

I unfolded a notice from Ellen asking me to meet her in her office in Ten minutes. I sighed deeply before noticing that it had been timed five minutes ago.

I quickly collected my bag and strided over to the building the held the sparse and unpersonalized office of Ellen Kirova.

I was so preoccupied with arriving on time that I barely noticed the clear and loud voices that were reverberating around the miniscule room.

"Excuse me but I really think you should have told me sooner!" The female, Ellen's, voice shouted.

I stopped short of the door, listening in rudely on their conversation.

"I'm sorry Ellen, but I don't see what a reckless novice has to do with me" The male voice said back to her calmly, his voice more collected than hers.

I took a deep breath and entered the room.

"Would you mind me asking what you're talking about, Ms Kirova?" I asked politely, standing rigidly next to the man.

She looked towards me, her face full of restrained surprise.

"This is exactly why I called you here, Mr Belikov"

I looked between the man and Ms Kirova, strangely knowing already it was Rose's doing.

"The janitor here," she answered gesturing to the man stood alongside me. "Was just telling me about your young novice's escapades with a certain Jesse Zeklos."

I stared at her, hopefully the surprise in my body not registering on my face.

"I'll take care of it, Ellen" I answered, turning my back to them.

"Wait Guardian Belikov, take him with you" She said, waving a dismissing hand towards the man who was now glaring hatefully at her.

We exited the room quietly, the air less stuffy outside of the claustrophobic office.

"They're in the abandoned lounge on the fourth floor. Take the stairs on the other side of the bathroom" The janitor murmured before trudging back, away from the heavy and angry tension that hung in the air.

Anger bubbled inside me, barely contained. I entered the Dhampir dorm and strided through the common room, Novice's heads turning in my direction as I went. Small whispers started within the crowds as I left the room to take the stairs.

The fourth floor was thick with dust, the air clogging up my throat but not pushing down the pulsing anger that welled inside of me. I would not let this happen, no matter what my feelings.

I slammed into the room, my eyes burning with intense anger. The couple jumped apart with fright.

I yanked Jesse up by his t-shirt, not caring this time about his status as a Moroi. All I cared about was what he was doing to Rose.

"What's your name?" I barked in his face.

"J-Jesse sir. Jesse Zeklos, sir"

"Mr Zeklos, do you have permission to be in this part of the dorm?"

"No, sir"

"Do you know the rules about male and female interactions around here?" I asked him, barely containing the anger that was now threatening to overflow.

"Yes, sir"

"Then I suggest you get out of here as fast as you can before I turn you over to someone who will punish you accordingly. If I ever see you like this again"- I gestured wildly towards Rose who was half naked on the couch- "I will be the one to punish you. And it will hurt. A lot. Do you understand?" I seethed at him, fury now pouring from me in great waves.

"Yes, sir!"

"Then go" I glared at him as I released him from the tight hold I had on the front of his shirt and he scampered from the room like a startled cat.

I turned to Rose, my anger boiling down and turning into a tangled mass of disapproval and anger.

Suddenly, I saw the beauty of Rose shining through. Although she was sitting on the couch, cowering like a Moroi, to me she seemed like a beautiful warrior. Beautiful and strong.

But on the other hand, she had the body that would rival most of the woman my age, except that was not what drew me in. The intensity in her eyes that dared me to look, to study her forever. She was like a goddess, majestic but all the more, she seemed to possess a power that didn't allow me to look away.

A hot flush spread across her skin, making her skin glow brightly, and thats when I knew. I knew that whatever happened, I would never let Rose leave my side.

"You see something you like?" Rose asked, attitude snapping me back into reality.

"Get dressed"

I glared at her, the anger I felt about her coming back and coating the lust I had felt almost instantly. She pulled on her shirt but stayed seated.

"How'd you find me? You following me to make sure I don't run away?"

"Be quiet," I snapped, leaning down to her level and glaring into her eyes. "A janitor saw you and reported it. Do you have any idea how stupid that was?"

"I know, I know, the whole probation thing, right?"

"Not just that. I'm talking about the stupidity of getting in that kind of situation in the first place" I said, exasperated.

"I get in that situation all the time, Comrade. It' not a big deal." Rose near enough shouted, her anger overtaking any other feelings she had had.

"Stop calling me that. You don't even know what your talking about" I sighed, wanting to leave and go to sleep for a very long time.

"Sure I do. I had to do a report on Russia and R.S.S.R last year" Rose answered, confident at herself.

""U.S.S.R. And it is a big deal for a Moroi to be with a dhampir girl. They like to brag" I said, exasperated.

"So?"

"So?" I looked at her, disgusted. "So you don't have any respect? Think about Lissa. You make yourself look cheap. You live up to a lot of people think about Dhampir girls, and it reflects back on her. And me"

"Oh, I see. Is that what this is about? Am I hurting your big, bad male pride? Are you afraid I'll ruin your reputation?" She said. I almost felt like laughing. She was clutching at straws because she was clearly losing this argument.

"My reputation is already made, Rose. I set my standards and lived up to them long ago. What you do with yours remains to be seen." My voice hardened because I know what I was going to say next may hurt her but it could help her as well. "Now get back to your room- if you can manage it without throwing yourself at someone else." I spat, fully knowing how ridiculously cruel I was being.

"Is that your subtle way of calling me a slut?"

"I hear the stories you guys tell. I've heard stories about you" I replied truthfully, almost not wanting to look at her. It hurt to think of all the guys she had been with when she should have been with me. But like that would ever happen...

Rose started to look devastatingly hurt before her eyes shone a brighter brown. So beautiful...

"Why is it wrong to... I don't know, have fun. I'm seventeen, you know. I should be able to enjoy it"

"You're seventeen, and in less than a year, someone's life and death will be in yours hands." I said roughly but with a softness that barely showed through my voice, resisting the urge to enclose her in my arms and protect her from the leering eyes of the Moroi monsters. "If you were human or Moroi, you could have fun. You could so things other girls could."

"But you're saying I can't"

I looked away from her eyes, remembering the memory I had kept under lock and key so long, I felt relieved just to tell someone. "When I was seventeen, I met Ivan Zeklos. We weren't like you and Lissa, but we became friends, and he requested me as his guardian when I graduated. I was the top student in my school. I paid attention to everything in my classes, but in the end, it wasn't enough. That's how it is in this life. One slip, one distraction..." I sighed loudly, realising I was doing exactly that. "And it's too late."

My heart stopped as I thought about how much I was putting Lissa's life in danger. It then sped up again at the thought of leaving Rose, of never being able to see her again. Could I... Could I love her?

"Jesse's a Zeklos" Rose said suddenly, snapping me out of my almost realisation.

"I know" I said dejectedly. Even my deceased best friend's relative couldn't get me away from Rose. If I could do that to someone who I liked, I dread to think if anything did ever happen to Rose involving someone I despised... What would I do?

"Does it bother you? Does he remind you of Ivan?"

"It doesn't matter how I feel. It doesn't matter how any of us feel" I almost spat, wondering why we couldn't get a say in any of this.

"But it does bother you," Rose said quietly, almost whispering. "You hurt. Every day. Don't you? You miss him."

I looked at her, startled. I worked so hard to keep my walls up, why had I let them slip now. All of this was all adding up together and I wasn't like the number I was coming up with.

I shook myself out of the surprised stupor Rose had put me in before turning back to the sorrow filled and apologetic eyes of Rose's. I had wiped the surprise from my face and I looked seriously at the possibilities.

"It doesn't matter how I feel. They come first. Protecting them."

"Yeah. They do"

The silence hung in the air, long but somehow not feeling strange at all.

"You told me you wanted to fight, to really fight. Is that still true?" I asked, coming to the one possibility that would please everyone.

"Yes. Absolutely."

"Rose... I can teach you, but I have to believe you're dedicated. I can't have you distracted by things like this." I gestured around the lounge, trying with all of my might to avoid Rose's smudged lipstick. "Can I trust you?"

Rose looked up at me, her face full of a powerful sadness that clenched my heart almost painfully.

"Yes I promise"

"All right. I'll teach you, but I need you strong. I know you hate the running, but it really is necessary. You have no idea what Strigoi are like. The school tries to prepare you, but until you've seen how strong they are and how fast... well you can't even imagine. So i can't stop the running and the conditioning. If you want to learn more about fighting, we need to add more trainings. It'll take up more of your time. You won't have much time left for your homework or anything else. You'll be tired. A lot" I explained, trying to show her how much time this would mean to me, except I didn't mind. For once.

"It doesn't matter. If you tell me to do it, I'll do it"

I studied her, almost impressed by her enthusiasm to be good. I nodded sharply to her.

"We'll start tomorrow."


	10. Chapter 10

**Hiya, moi again. You're lucky, once again, I'm very tired but I thought, ah what the heck, I love doing this!**

**Thank you for the reviews and story adds.**

**Yes, I finally own the rights! Naaa, just kidding, they still belong to Rochelle, who without I wouldn't be writing this. wooo. Now to the story, which is short coz there was no Dimitri but I made it up. Enjoooooy.**

I sent Rose back to her room whilst strolling back to my dorm lesuirely. The only thing I would have the next day was training with Rose as the school wouldn't need any help from my during the day.

I decided to take the non scenic route, around the common room, which I had not thought of when I had stormed up there is a furious anger.

As I came halfway between the two, I cursed remembering I would have to report back to Kirova.

I turned sharply to the left, back towards the soul-taking room that was her office. How she spent almost half of her time in there, I didn't know.

I know casually on her door before strolling in and seating myself across her with a small smile.

She raised an eyebrow at me but continued writing until she reached the end of her paragraph. I frowned at her, furious at how she was ignoring me.

"Belikov, give me a minute. I know you did well because of your smile but I need to do this. So please stop glaring at me." She asked politely, not bothering to look up from her work once.

I lifted myself from the chair and paced over to the window where the daylight was blocked out by black curtains but a chink still shone through. I longed to sleep but I also longer to stroll in the daylight, hand in hand with... Who am I even kidding?

"Right. Guardian Belikov, please return to your seat and report what happened."

I sat back down in the chair, for once feeling sheepish about what I had done.

I explained what had happened in detail, leaving out the explicit details of my mind but explaining what I had done to Jesse.

Kirova sighed deeply before shuffling her papers slightly.

"I understand how excruciatingly difficult it would have been to hold your temper, Guardian Belikov. But I can see how sorry you are for this but I'm afraid this is your last warning." Headmistress Kirova explained, her face devoid of emotions once again.

I nodded with relief before standing to my full height.

"Ah, Dimitri. I guess your thoughts regarding Miss Hathaway have changed, have they not?" Kirova asked me, obviously just trying to be polite but it made me want to blush all the more.

"Ahem, yes. We've sorted out our differences and I have realised she isn't that bad to work with" I answered, only lying the smallest bit.

I nodded respectfully to Kirova before walking out and closing the door quietly.

I sat down under the tree which I realise would help me better than sleeping would. Maybe I could sort out the mixed emotions I had for Rose and decide what was best to do.

Of course, I knew what was best to do but it wasn't what I wanted to do. For once, I was thinking about my life and what I could be doing, not what the system made me to be.

On one hand, there was beautiful Rose whose eyes shone so brightly when I gave her a compliment.

On the other, there was the fact I was seven years older than her which made me think of the implications on myself as well as her.

I stood up aggravatedly, angry at myself for not choosing the correct thing to do, when I used to know exactly what to do within seconds. It was Rose, messing with my brain with her face, her knowledge and her body.

Disgusted at myself, as well as feeling surprised at feeling all of this at once, I stormed back into my dorm where I sat on my bed and calmed my thoughts.

I could not do anything, let alone practice with the girl who plagued my thoughts constantly, without calming myself first.

The next thing I knew, I had woken up, still fully clothed in a daze. The sun was no longer up instead replaced with a primrose sunset that signalled the beginning of a new vampiric day.

I breathed in the dusk air strongly before I blitzed into the shower. An hour later and I was out running on the track, my thoughts clearer and brighter than they had been the past night.

With a large smile, this time because I knew what I should do, I started to jog towards the gym where my Rose awaited.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hiya, me again :D Hope your enjoying the chapter and the speedy updates, it's all for you guys. **

**I love the reviews but if you can all review each chapter, it would be absolutely brill! I would love to get as many reviews as some of the other good stories get.**

**Anyway, I own no rights once again to any of the characters or speech, but I would love to own Dimitri ;)**

**Now back to the story, thanks for reading all of my rants :)**

I entered the room, still in the jogging gear I had used when working out earlier that evening. I had spent the day meditating, which I found a lot of relaxation in, and reading my book.

I had finally finished it but the ending was... depressing which was to put it lightly. It made me want to finish the ending myself.

I felt utterly calm as I waited for Rose for the one hour of extra training for fighting practice. She strolled through the door, for once on time.

Immediately, my heart pounded slightly faster and I studied her, for a small moment, intensely.

I shook myself out of it before strolling across to the mat and positioning myself across from her and crossed my arms.

"So what's the first problem you'll run into when facing a Strigoi?"

"They're immortal?"

I repressed a sigh before looking at her seriously. "Think of something more basic"

"They could be bigger than me. And stronger." Rose considered for a minute.

I nodded, a smile wanting to burst through me. "That makes it difficult but not impossible. You can usually use a person's extra height and weight against them."

I quickly demonstrated a few basic maneuvers, making sure to break them down into slightly smaller and easier steps for Rose to follow.

She learnt them quickly, following me with precise and quick movements that made her body flow gracefully. Her hair flowing through the air and... stop it!

"Go ahead," I challenged. "Try to hit me"

Rose lunged forwards before I blocked the oncoming attacks with ease. I almost stopped to laugh at her before realising she had picked it up quicker than I had.

She then tried again and I knocked her onto her back but she recovered remarkably quickly.

She kept trying but each time I blocked her moves. She looked agitated before holding her hands up in a truce. "Okay, what am I doing wrong?

I almost smiled at her again before saying, "Nothing."

"If I wasn't doing anything wrong, I'd have rendered you unconscious by now"

"Unlikely. Your moves are all correct, but this is the first time is the first time you've really tried. I've done it for years."

She shook her head at me and rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, Grandpa. Can we try again?"

I nearly winced at her use of the aged language, I knew in a few hours it would come back to haunt me.

"We're out of time. Don't you want to get ready?"

Rose looked up at the clock, her face lighting up when she saw the time. My heart felt heavy at the fact I wouldn't see her until the morning but the fact kept me going until morning.

"Hell, yeah, I do"

I turned around, satisfied she'd be okay that night. I started walking out of the door when I heard the extremely loud battle cry of Rose. Not that it would have helped if she hadn't had done the cry.

Before she made contact with me, which would have sent me sprawling flat on my face, I spun around quickly. I grabbed my wrists and threw her to the ground, pinning her there.

Rose groaned loudly, her voice vibrating on my chest. "I didn't do anything wrong"

I looked her in the eyes as I held the wrist, holding in the joy of both that moment and the fact she had tried something unexpectedly brilliant. Without the battle cry, of course.

"The battle cry sort of gave you away. Try not to yell next time"

"Would it have really made a difference if I'd been quiet?"

I thought for a minute. "No, probably not"

Rose sighed loudly, the sound once again bouncing off of my chest. It brought my attention to the fact I was still pinning my beautiful student, who could never, even if I wanted it to, be with me. I noticed her beautiful brown eyes who seemed to be noticing too.

I noticed her brown hair that touched the side of my next softly, caressing my neck. I noticed her curves of her body that fit so easily with mine, our bodies fitting together like a puzzle. Which I clearly was at the moment. Puzzled. One again.

My brown hair had come loose from the ponytail I had put it in, to keep it out of the way during practice, and hung around my face in small waves. Rose seemed to compose herself whilst I was busy staring into her eyes.

"So um... you got any other moves to show me?" she said gently, disturbing me from the Rose induced daze.

I so much wanted to smile, to dazzle her like I used to but this time, I needed to think more. If I could think just a little bit more without her hips pressing against mine, I hoped it would be okay.

I pushed back the smile, my face contorting into almost a grimace.

I shifted myself off of her, containing the mental pain of withdrawing myself from her within me and rose with ease. "Come one. We should go."

Rose scrambled to her feet but I couldn't bare to look back, one glance back and I knew I couldn't tear myself away from her. We walked from the gym in total silence and went our separate ways.

I kicked the bag furiously as I entered my room. How stupid can I get?

I threw the lamp to the ground, my ears ringing with the resulting bang. I hated being so weak as to fall in love with her but what could I do?

I just had to accept it, I loved Roza and there would be nothing I would rather do than gather her up into my arms and tell her I love her.

That's what was confusing me so much, should I do my duty and follow my head or what I wanted for a change and follow my heart.

Why?

Checking the time, I cursed for such foolishness on my part before departing to guard for Queen Tatiana, who was banqueting with the Academy tonight.

A few dozen guardians as well as myself lined the hall, creating an impenetrable barrier that guarded against any attack that was planned against her. Like lambs, we were all waiting for the kills, to give protection or safety to everyone else.

I suppressed a sneer as the Queen walked in, obviously after the royals such as Lissa. The novice's line the back wall but I felt determined to not look back there where I could feel Rose's burning stare on the side of my head.

I stared straight ahead, determined for Rose' appearance to stop me from guarding one of the most important banquets of the year.

During this time, I refused to listen to the Queen during her 'heart rendering speeches'. But somehow, there was something in the air that night that made me look and listen intently.

As the queen neared the end of her worthy speech, which after a few minutes, I blocked out, something shifted.

"But, as you have demonstrated, names do not make a person. Nor do they have any bearing on how that person turns out"

The air shifted in a cold and disgustingly nasty atmosphere throughout the meal. I noticed Rose eyeing the Queen as she travelled down the corridor.

I crossed my fingers and hoped and prayed she did nothing as I knew she could never be forgiven. Thankfully, she stayed rooted to the spot, pouring out her anger with a vicious glare instead.

After the banquet, I watched as Lissa wandered from the room with a strange sense of sadness for her.

She didn't deserve the flack she got from the Queen, but whatever she needed to get away from, I trusted that it was big enough for Rose to want to lose education because of it.

In the minutes that followed, Natalie as well as Rose skirted their way around everyone to get to Lissa.

I sighed heartily as I noticed Mia had disappeared as well, knowing that this could only in one made her way over to me, her face contorted with anger.

"Guardian Belikov, where is Rosemarie?" she asked, her anger barely contained.

I sighed heavily as I turned towards Ellen with a large, fake smile on my face.

"Oh, Headmistress Kirova, I sent her on an errand. Please, allow me to find her" I smiled fakely, not hesitating to lie to save Roza.

"That was against my wishes, Belikov, but please just bring her back to her dormitory" Ellen said with an emotionless voice before turning on her heel and walking away again briskly.

I sighed again briskly before walking out of the door and then disappeared from sight in the courtyard that ran alongside the dining hall.

I made my way through the maze of bushes that, although looked breathtaking in the daylight, never ceased to confuse me in the moonlight.

Suddenly, I found my way through the gardens where I saw Rose leaning dangerously close to a furious looking Mia. I strode forwards, my footsteps echoing along the concrete pathway, until I reached the group of girls.

I stood beside Rose with my arms crossed decisively and resisted the urge to glare at Mia, who was obviously agitating Ro- Ro... Roza. My Roza.

"Everything alright?"

"Sure thing, Guardian Belikov." Roza smiled, even though her words were seeping with venom so obviously I was surprised that Mia didn't seem affected. "We were just swapping family stories. Ever heard Mia's? It's fascinating."

I looked at her, resisting the urge to shake my head at how stupid Roza was being, especially around so many witnesses.

"Come on" Mia said, before she and her companions walked away together. I let out a sigh of relief that nothing worse had happened.

"I'm supposed to bring you back to your dorm," I said dryly. "You weren't about to just start a fight, were you?"

"Of course not," Roza said as she glared angrily at the doorway where Mia had just disappeared through. "I don't start fights where people can see them"

"Rose" Lissa groaned as I shook my head.

"Let's go. Good night, Princess"

I turned on my heel, furious that Roza would be so stupid but she seemed rooted to the spot.

"Your going to be okay, Liss?"

Lissa nodded. "I'm fine"

I refused to roll my eyes at this obviously tender exchange but if she got in trouble again, I couldn't save her this time.

"Liss..."

Lissa smiled again, her smile sad and small before nodding in my direction. "I told you, I'm fine. You've got to go"

Roza reluctantly followed in my footsteps as we neared the exit at the other side of the garden.

"We may need to add an extra training on self control" I noted, thinking out loud.

"I have plenty of self contr- hey!" Roza protested before she stopped talking.

I saw Christian move around us from the corner of my eye, down the path we had just gone down.

"You going to see Lissa?" Roza demanded, her outrage coming back in a furious burst.

Christian put his hands in his pockets with a sulky determination before speaking. "What if I am?"

"Rose, this isn't the time" I muttered, knowing that anything I would do, would not help in this situation.

"Why don't you leave her alone? Are you so messed up and desperate for attention that you can't tell when someone doesn't like you?" Christian scowled, covering his hurt feelings with anger. "You're some crazy stalker, and she knows it. She's told me all about your weird obsession- how you're always hanging out in the attic together, how you set Ralf on fire to impress her. She thinks you're a freak but she's too nice to say anything"

I bowed my head in defeat, cursing myself from keeping a better eye on her. Christian was staring intensely at Roza, his skin paled at least two shades.

"But you aren't too nice?

" when I feel sorry for someone"

"Enough," I said, keeping the anger out of my voice, before steering her away from the situation.

"Thanks for 'helping', then," Christian snapped from behind us, anger dripping from his words.

"No problem," Roza called over her shoulder, her words harsh and emotionless.

A few times, she stole a glance over her shoulder to Christian, who was staring down the path that led to Lissa with an expression that was a bottomless pit of sadness.

I'd seen another side to Roza tonight, which I wasn't sure if I entirely liked.


	12. Chapter 12

**Heya, sorry it's a little bit late and it may be a bit more late for the next week but here it is.**

**Oh, I also have a forum from the mediator books, it's called The mediator role playing for everyone interested. If your interested, there are still soooo many characters left :P**

**once again, I own no rights to The VA series.**

I dropped Roza back off at her dormitory, making sure she stayed in there before retreating back to my room and collapsing into my bed with exhaustion. Sleep didn't come easily for a few hours but eventually I fell into a fitful sleep.

Tonight, my dreams were blissfully empty for a change in contrast to the tens of dreams all ending with the conclusion of a wedding or a relationship with Roza.

Suddenly, a ringing jerked me awake and, as I had trained myself to be, fully awake. I slowed as I noticed my mobile phone was buzzing noisily, vibrating on the dresser in the corner of the room.

"Hello?" I asked gruffly into the phone, my voice not responding to the training yet.

"Sorry to wake you, Guardian Belikov. A Miss Hathaway wants to see you, she says it's an emergency." I sighed a little but this kind of emergency, I didn't mind as much.

"What's wrong with her? Is she hurt?" I asked agitatedly.

"She looks fine but she won't tell me the emergency. Shall I send her away, she shouldn't be waking you at this hour" She said sternly, about to cut me off and tell Roza to leave.

"It's fine, I'll be down in a minute" I said sternly, hoping my words had the desired effect of being cutting. They did

She made her apologies for misunderstanding and I put the phone down. Hastily, I threw on clothes that I had set out the day before and then fixed my hair into a neat ponytail.

With a quick check of my watch and of the mirror, which I normally didn't do, I slid on the custom black shoes and walked down the stairs.

I exited the stairs and walked in the hallway where Roza stood with the matron. Roza looked as beautiful as ever, even though her hair was tangled and her face was full of worry.

"Lissa." I said, looking at her briefly. She nodded her head.

I turned around and headed out the door, which stood next to the door which led to the Guardian dormitory, and down the stairs to the first floor where we headed across the dormitory's towards the Moroi dormitory's.

The sun shone brightly, high in the sky. Although it was technically 'night' for the Moroi, for the Dhampirs, the sun was greatly welcomed.

I longed to lavish in it, to stay outside all day and snooze in the sun. Maybe have a picnic with Roza under a beautiful blossom tree that bloomed pink flowers. The perfect day.

We walked into the Moroi dormitory's, the night matron gasping as we came in. I looked towards her, challenging her to say we couldn't continue.

"She's in the bathroom," Roza announced to both the Matron and I. The Matron nodded and started towards the bathroom. Roza stopped her from entering after her. "She's too upset. Let me talk to her alone first."

I considered the consequences of this but decided it couldn't be any worse than letting them eat lunch together. "Yes. Give them a minute"

Roza, looking thankful, pushed the bathroom door open and disappeared inside.

"Guardian Belikov, what exactly is going on here?" The matron asked me, annoyed.

I turned away from her and started pacing up and down the corridor until Roza and Lissa were ready to speak to the Matron and myself.

"I'm sure Ellen will fill you in later" I spoke quickly, doubling back and marching my way over to the door.

"Guardian Belikov! Don't you dare enter that room without knocking on the door first!" The matron yelled as I went to pull open the bathroom door.

I sighed painfully before stopping and standing outside of the door. "Rose?" I called through the door, anxiously.

"Just a sec" Roza called back through the door, sounding preoccupied.

I took a deep breath so I didn't start to sob in choking tears and break down my guardian image completely. The matron shook her head before storming towards the door and standing shoulder to shoulder with me in front of the door.

"We're coming in," The Matron called through the door to the girls.

We rushed in through the door, myself in front and Matron rushing in behind me. I ran to Lissa's side where I noticed her face was covered in red blood. My eyes widened in surprise as I started to frantically check over Lissa with a visual check.

"It's not mine," Lissa said quickly. "It...it's the rabbit"

I frowned but began to assess Lissa, checking her over quickly before my eyes ran over two plasters that were stuck over both of her wrists.

I refused to acknowledge them and continued my checking until I was satisfied there was nothing seriously wrong with her.

"What rabbit?" I asked, curious.

Lissa pointed shakily to when a lone metal bin stood, a red handprint on the lid on the side and a small trail of blood leading up to it. "I cleaned it up. So Natalie wouldn't see" she answered, clearly shaken and shivering violently.

Roza and I broke away from Lissa, walking gingerly over to the ominous bin that seemed to scream danger.

We both peered into the bin, Roza pulling away as soon as she saw it, looking extremely pale. I breathed deeply through my mouth, making sure not to inhale the rancid smell that was emanating from the bin but managed to refrain from being sick.

I steadied my breathing before striding over to Lissa and bending down to be at her eye height.

"Tell me what happened." I said gently, handing her a few tissues which she wiped her face gently with, removing some of the blood, her face looking better but still a bit pink.

"I came back about an hour ago. And it was there. Right there in the middle of the floor. Torn apart. It was like it had... exploded" Lissa sniffed. "I didn't want Natalie to find it, didn't want to scare her... so I-I cleaned it up. Then I just couldn't... I couldn't go back"

Lissa broke down into tears once again, her head hung and her shoulders shaking violently as her sobs racked through her body.

"No one should be able to get into these rooms!" The Matron exclaimed loudly. "How is this happening?"

"Do you know who did it?" I asked Lissa gently. She reached into her pocket slowly, extracting a piece of paper that was so blood soaked, I couldn't see what colour it had been originally. She handed it to me with shaking hands, the paper shaking with her bodily vibrations.

I know what you are. You won't survive being here. I'll make sure of it. Leave now. It's the only way you might live through this.

Even though it was Lissa's life in danger, I wanted to fold my arms around Roza to stop this maniac from ever hurting her.

The Matron headed to the door, a determined look on her face. "I'm getting Ellen" she announced.

"Tell her we'll be at the clinic," I answered. The matron nodded briskly before disappearing from sight. When she had gone, I turned to Lissa. "You should lie down."

Lissa stayed in the spot she was in, her eyes glazed over with a look I had never seen in my life before.

Suddenly, Roza took action and linked her arm through Lissa's. "Come on Liss. Let's get you out of here"

Slowly, Lissa started to move without purpose. But she seemed to know Roza knew what she was doing so moved according to her instructions.

We entered the clinic where there was a single nurse on duty in the silent clinic. She walked over to us, offering to wake a doctor to assess Lissa further. I declined, knowing that a claustrophobic crowd any bigger at the one we had at the moment would force more pressure onto the crumbling Lissa.

"She just needs to rest" I declined and we were shown to a narrow bed only a little way away from the nurses station.

As soon as Lissa had stretched out and relaxed, Ellen marched in with an entourage behind her. Immediately, they started to question her relentlessly, obviously making the girl more anxious about what had happened. As well as her wrists, which could only mean one thing at that moment.

Roza stepped in front of Lissa, guarding her from questions thrown by all directions. I smiled slightly at her, she was actually behaving like a guardian for a change. "Leave her alone. Can't you see she doesn't even know what you're going here!" Rose yelled as she blocked Lissa from Ms Kirova.

"Miss Hathaway," declared Kirova, "you're out of like as usual. I don't even know what your doing here."

I sighed, tapping Ellen's shoulder so she turned around to face me. "Ellen, may we speak privately for a minute, please?" I asked her politely, restraining the anger that was pooling in my stomach.

She reluctantly stepped outside of the clinic with me, her face like thunder.

"Ellen, they are shadow kissed. There is no point separating them" I argued, keeping my voice as calm as possible.

"Guardian Belikov, who are you to say what I do with my students?" Ellen said angrily, in direct contrast to my voice.

I stifled a sigh before saying, "I've spent a lot of time with both of them. Rose was the one who brought me here, Ellen. She knew!" I said firmly, knowing that this may be the end of an argument. Of course, she always wants the last say

Ellen stayed silent for a minute, contemplating the pros and cons of her next decision. "You mean to say, Miss Hathaway knew Miss Dragomir was feeling at the time?" Ellen asked me, intrigued.

I felt like smiling because I knew that I was finally getting through to her. "Yes, if you read any books about being shadow-kissed, it will tell you everything" I announced, feeling slightly proud of myself.

Ellen sighed loudly before waving her hand slightly in the air. Three guardians approached her silently from the edges of the corridors. "Miss Hathaway is allowed to stay for only a short while. I also want you to get the bathroom cleaned and investigate both the bathroom and Miss Dragomir's dormitory." She ordered them. They bowed in respect before all going their individual way.

Ellen and I re-entered the clinic where Ellen announced stiffly, "You may stay with her for a little while. We'll have janitors do further cleaning and investigation in the bathroom and your room, Miss Dragomir, and then discuss the situation in detail in the morning."

"Don't wake Natalie," Lissa whispered. "I don't want to scared her. I cleaned up everything in the room anyway"

Ellen looked doubtful but seemed to believe what Lissa was saying. After the nurse offered something to eat or drink for Lissa, which she declined, the rest of the group left.

With one longing glance back at Rose, I walked out of the clinic and into the sunshine again.

The lights in the Moroi dorm were on which indicated that the commotion we had caused had woken up the girls side of the dormitory.

I wandered lazily back to the Dhampir dormitory where I sat on my bed, contemplating what had just happened. With every passing minute, my thoughts grew weaker and weaker...

I woke up with a start, my head dangling down along with my legs and I was still fully clothed. I checked my watch and sighed, seeing that if I didn't get up and re-dress quickly, I would be very late for the class I was helping to guard.

Once dressed with my hair in a quick ponytail, I followed the rest of the students that seemed to be rushing to their next class, except I pretended to be calm.

Walking casually into the class, I looked around and spotted that it would only be me, one other guardian and the teacher as opposed to three guardians and the teacher.

Positioning myself at the back of the room, I blocked out the lecture the teacher was giving

In training, Roza's concentration was lacking and so was her pace.I looked at her, puzzled.

I walked out after the training where I was walking behind two Moroi girls who seemed to be talking about someone. "...Rose..." I heard but it was enough for me to listen intently.

"Oh my god, did you hear what Rose Hathaway has done? Soo disgusting" One Moroi girl grimaced. The other girl walked closer to the other, willing to hear the latest gossip.

"She like, had sex with Ralf and Jesse. And if that's not bad enough, she let them feed off of her!" The first girl exclaimed. The other girl shook her head, just as disgusted.

"Why does she even bother? She might as well go off and be a blood whore, she'll never amount to anything else!" The girl cackled cruelly, her words full of a poison that could only be shown when talking about a blood whore.

It took all of my restraint not to charge up to Roza's room and take her away, far away, where no rumours could ever be heard again.

In intense anger, I changed my direction and headed towards the Moroi dorm.

I charged past the matron who didn't even bother to say anything to me this time and went up the stairs to where I knew Lissa was staying.

"Lissa!" I yelled, banging on the door. Lissa opened the door, her eyes open wide. I sighed, my anger evaporating into the air with the defenceless look on her face.

"I think Rose may need to talk to you privately so I'm going to let her. Trust me" I begged Lissa, not expecting a royal as high up as her to trust me as a friend, only as a Guardian.

"Of course, if you think she needs me" she said, stepping out from her room majestically before following me back down the stairs and along to the Dhampir dorms.

"Stay out here, Princess, I'll go upstairs and make sure she's okay first" I assured her, leaving her in the shadows at the edge of the building.

I walked up the stairs quickly, not wanting to leave the princess on her own for longer than needed.

I knocked quietly on Roza's door, in contrast to the large and anger fueled knock. Roza reluctantly opened the door, her movements sad and slow.

I studied her face up close, her eyes red as well as her cheeks. For her own happiness, as I knew she would hate for me to see her weakness, I turned away from her.

"Are you okay?" I asked her quietly, concerned about her normally back chatting self had disappeared.

"It doesn't matter if I am, remember?" She looked up at me. "Is Lissa okay?" This'll be hard on her"

I looked down at her with an astonished expression. It was the fact she had remember as well as the fact that she was the one being put down here, not Lissa.

I shook my head, annoyed, before gesturing her to follow me. We went back down the stairs where I stopped her at the door.

"Five minutes" I warned her before stepping out of the way and letting her pass. I closed the door after them and travelled back upstairs where I waited outside Roza's room for five minutes.

Checking my watch, I realised it had been over five minutes and rushed down stairs before poking my head out of the door.

"You've got to get back inside, Rose, before someone finds you" I told her, agitatedly. Roza looked straight towards Lissa worriedly but she was already heading back to her dorm.

"I'll take care of everything this time, Rose. Everything"


	13. Chapter 13

**Heeeey. Sorry it took so long to update. School shizzle dizzle and all that.**

**Now I have 6 whole weeks of nothingness so constant updates, I'm guessing.**

**Thank you for all of the updates, much appreciated**

**Once again, the rights are Richelle's so... not mine XD**

I escorted the princess back to her dormitory after Roza had been seen safely back to hers.

"I am sorry about my outburst before, Princess. I am concerned for Rose" I apologized as we reached the Moroi dormitory again. She smiled slightly before nodding once firmly.

"I understand, Guardian Belikov. It will be fixed, though" she said before bidding me goodbye and returning to her room. I sighed, turning back the way I had come, back to my lonely , albeit peaceful room.

Reading silently, I sat on my bed with my legs crossed. "Belikov," A voice shouted through the door.

With regret, I set the book down and walked quickly to the door to my bedroom. Stan stood there with another guardian who seemed to be a little bit nervous.

"Show this kid around, he's just come back from Russia and he's just graduated." Stan said gruffly before turning his back on both me and the young Guardian at my side.

I stifled an annoyed sigh before looking down at the now shaking boy. "What is your name?" I asked emotionless voice. The young guardian looked close to crying before speaking.

"Luka Vassily, sir" he answered shakily. I raised an eyebrow before leading him through the rest of the Dhampir dorm.

"My name is Guardian Belikov, no need with the formalities. Follow me" I answered, striding down the corridor where I heard footsteps trying to desperately catch up to mine. Sighing, I slowed down my pace to allow him to catch up to me.

I showed him the main places within the school, introducing him to people who were up. After a lengthy tour, which at least kept my mind off of Roza for a few hours, I led him back to the Dhampir dormitory and showed him his room.

"You will get your assignment timetable in the morning. You know where I am" I called over my shoulder as I walked back to my room. I just wanted to sleep.

I woke up the next morning, my neck stiff as it seemed I had somehow shifted in the night so my head was hanging from the bed. Rubbing my neck tiredly, I rose from the bed and dressed slowly as I had remembered to set my alarm.

When I got to the gym Rose was already changed so we walked out and started running slowly. I kept sneaking looks at her, keeping my instructions quiet and simple in case she would start to cry.

We finished slightly early so I taught her offensive exercises such as how to make a weapon out of nothing if you were ever disarmed.

Within the hour, I decided that I would test her again to see if she had improved. I could see she had been practising, her hits evading my guard and hitting me occasionally. She had the right moves but she had no power behind it.

Calling it break time before I started smiling at how much she had improved, we returned to the gym, carrying all of the equipment we had used in training.

Then I saw her hands.

They were covered in blisters and they were bone dry, sometimes her knuckles bleeding as she flexed her fingers.

"Your hands." I swore in Russian. "Where are your gloves?"

She looked down at her hands, somewhat surprised at how bad they had gotten. She turned them over, inspecting them closely.

"Don't have any. Never needed them in Portland"

I swore again before refraining from dragging her over to the chair, settling for beckoning her over to the chair instead. I searched for the first aid kit before taking her hands, in one of the worst circumstances feeling her again, and wiped the blood from her hands.

"We'll get you some." I told her as she looked down at her hands sadly.

"This is only the start, isn't it?" she asked me, looking up from her hands.

"Of what?"

"Me. Turning into Alberta. Her...and all the other female guardians. They're all leathery and stuff. Fighting and training and always being outdoors-they aren't pretty anymore." she paused sadly. "This...this life. It destroys them. Their looks, I mean."

I hesitated, looking to the beautiful girl sitting opposite, knowing whatever happened, she could never like the other guardians.

"It won't happen to you. You're too..." A million words sprung to mind. Beautiful, stunning, lovely. All seemed inappropriate to say to my seventeen year old student who I was in love with and didn't return my feelings.

I gave up trying to think of something that would seem even remotely normal. "It won't happen to you"

I looked back down at her hands, trying to turn my attention to something other than how I felt about her.

"It happened to my mum. She used to be beautiful. I guess she still is, sort of. But not in the way she used to be." she said then bitterly added, "Haven't seen her in a while. She could look completely different for all I know"

"You don't like your mother," I observed, seeing our similarities in everything we did now.

"You noticed that, huh?

"You barely know her" I compromised.

"That's the point. She abandoned me. She left me to be raised by the academy."

I finished cleaning up her wounds before grabbing a jar of salve and gently rubbing her wounded her between mine.

I resisted the urge to sigh from happiness, I didn't doubt this would be the last time I would feel this close to her. While I massaged her hands, I tried to give an argument for her estranged mother.

"You say that... but what else should she have done?I know you want to be a guardian . I know how much it means to you. Do you think she feels any differently. Do you think she should have quit to raise you when you'd spend most of your life here anyway?" I argued, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Are you saying I'm a hypocrite?" she asked, seemingly annoyed at my response.

"I'm just saying that maybe you shouldn't be so hard on her. She's a very respected dhampir woman. She's set you on the path to be the same."

"It wouldn't kill her to visit more," Roza muttered to herself. "But I guess your right. A little. It could have been worse, I suppose. I could have been raised with blood whores"

I suppressed a sigh as the rumours came back about that community again. I wished with all of my heart that those rumours could be wiped and replaced with the experience I had had.

I looked up at her from her hands without judgement.

"I was raised in a dhampir commune. They aren't as bad as you think."

"Oh," she said quietly. "I didn't mean-"

"It's all right" I answered emotionlessly, looking back down at her hands and continued to massage them.

"So did you, like, have family there? Grow up with them?"

I nodded, feeling the urge to stay silent. "My mother and two sisters. I didn't see them much after I went to school, but we still kept in touch. Mostly, the communities are about family. There's a lot of love there no matter what stories you've heard."

Tension coiled out into the air from Roza as she glanced down at her wounded hands. I felt like touching her face and imagining her face lighting up at my touch. But there again, when would that ever happen? I thought bitterly.

"Yeah, but... isn't it weird? Aren't there a lot of Moroi men visiting to, you know?..." she trailed off, still looked down.

I tensed up, knowing that the subject of my father would come eventually once we started talking about men in a dhampir commune. So I decided to dead end her.

"Sometimes." I answered, still rubbing small circles into her hands, enjoying the closeness.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up something bad..." she apologised, keeping her head down and her eyes averted.

I fought the urge to hug her again, the sadness in her voice was touching every bone in my body. Everyday I could feel my 'badass' image and wall fall down around her.

"Actually...you probably wouldn't think it's bad," I said, a tight smile forming on my lips. "You don't know your father, do you?"

She shook her head. "No. All I know is he must have had wicked cool hair." she joked.

I looked up from massaging her hand, taking the opportunity to look at her, sweeping my eyes over her face intensely. "Yes. He must have." Regretfully, I looked back down at her hands. "I knew mine"

She froze up. "Really? Most Moroi guys don't stay-I mean, some do, but you know, usually they just-"

"Well, he liked my mother" I spat spitefully, anger peppering my voice. It happened every time I thought at him. Not really a surprise considering...

"And he visited her a lot. He's my sisters father too. But when he came... well he didn't treat my mother very well. He did some horrible things"

"Like..." she hesitated. "Blood whore things?"

"Like beating-her up kinds of things," I replied flatly

I finished bandaging her hands up but at that moment, felt closer to her than ever and couldn't bare to let go of her hands. And she didn't attempt to pull hers away from me. It gave me a nugget of hope.

"Oh god," she said, tightening her hands in mine. I welcomed the distraction but knew once I'd started talking about it, I couldn't stop halfway through.

I squeezed her hands back. "That's horrible. And she...she just let it happen?"

"She did." my thoughts flitted back to the commune and my mouth turned up slightly. "But I didn't."

Roza's face lit up slightly and excitement fizzed in the air around her. "Tell me, tell me you beat the crap out of him."

I felt the urge to laugh at this but instead my smile grew wider. "I did."

"Wow." she exclaimed quietly. "You beat up your dad. I mean, that's really horrible...what happened. but wow. You really are a god."

A god... I'd always thought of myself as somewhat skilled but a god? And that coming from the girl and student I was in love with. Was it insane to think she might actually like me. No of course not, are you crazy? A voice in my head shouted.

I blinked slowly. "What?"

"Uh, nothing" she stammered , changing the subject. "How old were you?"

Yet my mind was still on the comment she made earlier. She may just think I was skilled and was impressed by me. Or... I couldn't think of that possibility. "Thirteen"

"You beat up your dad when you were thirteen?" Roza exclaimed, clearly surprised and a little bit impressed.

"It wasn't that hard. I was stronger than he was, almost as tall. I couldn't let him keep doing that. He had to learn that being royal and Moroi doesn't mean you can do anything you want to other people- even blood whores" I sighed, my mind replaying the scene over and over again.

"I'm sorry" she apologised.

"It's all right"

Like a lightbulb going off in her head, an idea spewed from her mouth. "That's why you got so upset about Jesse, isn't it? He was another royal, trying to take advantage of a dhampir girl"

I averted my eyes, if only she knew what I was thinking that day. Yes, partly because of that but mostly because it was another man taking advantage of her, not another Moroi.

"I got upset over that for a lot of reasons. After all, you were breaking the rules, and..." I trailed off, looking deeply into her eyes intensely as a warmth built between us like the sun in the evening.

"I know you heard what people are saying, that I-"

I cut in disgusted that someone had even started those rumours. "I know it's not true"

Her face turned surprised, maybe that I had said it or someone actually believed in her.

"Yeah, but how do you-"

"Because I know you," I replied firmly, no doubting tone in my voice. "I know your character. I know you're going to be a great guardian"

Her face lit up, a small smile forming on her lips. "I'm glad someone does. Everyone else thinks I'm totally irresponsible"

"With the way you worry more about Lissa than yourself..." I shook my head, disagreeing. "No. You understand your responsibilities better than guardians twice your age. You'll do what you have to do to succeed"

She thought intensely about that remark. "I don't know if I can do everything I have to do"

I raised an eyebrow, sure there was nothing that this girl couldn't do. Stop it!

"I don't want to cut my hair" She explained.

I didn't want her to either, her hair was one of the things that had attracted me to her but the question was why she thought it. "You don't have to cut your hair. It's not required"

"All the other guardian women do. They show off their tattoos" she explained sadly.

Unconsciously, I reached a hand forwards and held onto a lock of her hair, twirling it around my finger slowly.

My body warmed at the feel of being close to her, close enough to hug her, hold her hand or maybe even kiss her. I went to lean forwards slightly when I realised what I was doing.

I let her hair go, surprised and embarrassed at what I had just done.

"Don't cut it" I answered gruffly, mentally hitting myself for my stupidity. I would have to be more careful from now on.

"But no one'll see my tattoos if I don't" she complained. I thought about it. I didn't care if no one saw her tattoos, just as long as she didn't cut her hair.

"Wear it up" I smiled slightly, moving towards the door.

I escaped the room, sighing at my stupidity. If I hadn't have scared her off before, I was sure to have done now.

What had I done?


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey hey, guys. I know it was a quick update so woooo me.**

**So I see a lot of people are favoriteing so thank yooou. **

**Awesome- there look, one word review. So if you favorite, pleeeeease review as well. It really boosts my confidence :P**

**Again I own no rights to VA, unfortunately not DX. **

Throughout the weeks, I noticed that Lissa was gaining in popularity whilst Roza stayed in the shadows and avoided curious glances from the whole school.

Later in the day, I was summoned to Kirova's office with no idea why I was going there. I knocked lightly on the door, not at all anxious for what was about to happen.

"Enter" She called through the door loudly.

I entered the room and she motioned for me to sit down in the chair opposite. "What is this about, Headmistress?" I asked as I sunk into the too low and too thin chair.

She looked up from her paperwork sighing. "Lose the attitude, Belikov. I realise you don't like it here but it needs to be done. I want an update" she demanded, shuffling her paper a few time as I thought about it.

She looked up as if to say, 'well?'

"She is doing exceptionally. She is making every session that I have prepared for her. Her fighting, from what I see and hear, is becoming better and she is almost up to the standards of her classmates again. Maybe even above" I praised Roza, trying to make her seem to look good in the headmistresses eyes.

"What about the fights she has nearly been in and the fraternizing?" Kirova narrowed her eyes,the pupils in them drilling into mine, trying to get me to tell the truth.

"Mild slips, I'm sure. Nothing bad has happened of yet" I told her truthfully, refraining from grinding my teeth at what I had been reduced to.

Even though I had met Roza during this, I shouldn't be guarding small girls against something I wasn't allowed to fight because THEY WEREN'T THERE!

Kirova nodded her head slightly again. "Thank you for the report back, Guardian Belikov. I would have liked to hear it without asking to see you first" she replied, looking back down at her paper work which meant I was dismissed, I had learnt that by now.

I left silently before noticing the time. Swearing, I rushed towards the chapel where a few others were rushing in late.

I took a seat at the back pew, once again not listening to the service but thinking and respecting.

Where I normally thought wholly of giving my respect to the strigoi I had killed, my mind kept wandering to Roza who I knew was seated about halfway down on the opposite pews.

The service, once again, had nothing to interest me so I kept my thoughts to myself and blocked it out completely.

It ended and we filed from the church where we all returned to either our rooms or places that we wanted to be. Personally, I returned to my bedroom and read the book again before I waited for Alberta.

She knocked on my door at the precise time and we walked into a meadow that was concealed by the school.

After about half an hour, I realised I was too distracted, as Alberta was landing multiple hits through my guard. We stopped for a break and she looked at me strangely.

"What's up, Belikov? You seem distracted" she asked worriedly.

I laughed once, that was a word for it.

"You could say that but I think it's a little bit worse" I sighed before motioning for us to start up again.

Only Roza knew anything remotely personal about my past and how I felt, I wasn't about to let my wall down around Alberta.

At least not yet.

We fought again but this time I made sure my mind was off of Roza and into the fighting. Yet, Alberta still slipped by my guard sometimes.

"You can always tell me, Belikov. You know where I am" Alberta smiled as we arrived back at the dhampir dormitory.

I smiled and nodded my head before returning to my room and collapsing onto the bed. Why couldn't I stop thinking of her?

Normally she kept out of my head during anything work related or when I wasn't around but recently her image had been creeping into my mind, moulding with whatever I had been thinking about.

It wouldn't help to tell Alberta, she would have me in prison before I had said nothing happened. She may be a good acquaintance but she wouldn't hesitate to ruin my life against going against the law.

I sighed again, my slightly aching muscles sighing as well as I lied back in bed, this time seeing a dream that I would remember for the rest of my life.

_I stood at the front of a room, oblivious to where I was._

_"Hey, where am I?" I asked the man standing next to me._

_He looked at me strangely before shaking his head. Music started up. It sounded like a... wedding march._

_Looking confused, I looked behind me to see flower girls making their way up the aisle. What..._

_Finally, the bride came down the aisle, her face covered by an opaque veil that made it impossible to see the bride._

_She came to a stop beside me and I uncovered her face, stepping back and covering my mouth as Roza stood there, looking beautiful_

_I resisted the sobs of happiness and disbelief that I felt rising in my throat and stepped towards her as a little girl came running._

_"DADDY!" She screamed happily, holding onto my legs tightly._

I couldn't take any more shock and passed out in the dream, waking up in reality, my body covered in sweat.

I sighed, shaking my head. I couldn't deny it anymore, she was something I could try to give up but my body would never forget her.


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello again everyone! Thank you for the reviews even though some of them were not constructive as I wouldn't know what to do to stop some of the things I do. Oh and no, Dhampir's can't have children but it you see, it was a** _dream..._

**Anywaaaaay, that was my little rant out of the way. Sorry if it took so long and that the chapter is short. Just a heads up the next one will be too.  
**

**The next one also might take a little while to put up as I have this summery school thing for half of the day.  
**

**Alright, I own no rights to the story of vampire academy. you know by now.  
**

**Enjoyyy :D  
**

The hours within the day seemed to blur into one large mess without Roza to stop time and the blurring of the world.

I would have spent the rest of the day reading, training and thinking if the incident in the bathroom had not have been brought to my attention.

"Belikov, your needed" Stan banged on the door before moving on through the corridor. I got up groggily, my brain not engaged in guardian yet, more involved in the thoughts of the book I had been reading non stop.

"What happened?" I asked Alberta as she started to walk down the corridor beside me.

"Some hooligan set one of the bins on fire in the bathroom, leaving the staff to sort out the mess it left behind" She growled, quickening her pace as we both marched towards the toilets where a blaze was burning brightly.

I sighed before exiting the toilets and going into one of the dhampir common room, where there would normally be fifteen students, five at worst, the common room was completely empty.

I returned to the toilet where the fire was nearly extinguished and Headmistress Kirova was standing by the door, her face red with anger.

"Headmistress Kirova, it seems like it was some prank of a dhampir" I reported back as the guardians were taking the still smouldering bin from the room.

Kirova raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Guardian Belikov, It can be easily seen that it is. The bin did not spontaneously combust" her voice dripping with sarcasm. I looked away, containing the slight bubble of anger inside of me.

"A better question, Guardian Belikov, would be who started it?" She asked,wiping a finger across the ashy blackness that had settled on the walls after the smoke of the fire.

"I cannot answer that, Ellen. This would be cause for an investigation, not a guess" I answered, my voice contained to the same dulcet tone I used on everybody.

The headmistress turned back to me, her eyebrow raised slightly. "Do you really believe that? Who normally is in the middle of situations like this?" she asked me skeptically.

My jaw clenched as I realised what point she was getting at. "Miss Hathaway is not the cause for everything that goes on within this school. You cannot just go to this conclusion with an investigation" I told her, breathing deeply to keep my annoyance in check.

"Oh really? What do you expect me to think? She's got into arguments since she had come back here and she left school with a Moroi, for no understandable reason. I don't think she had earned the trust you give her" she told me emotionlessly.

I turned away from her and walked to the other side of the room. "I assure you, Headmistress Kirova, my trust in Rose is well placed" I told her before walking from the room.

It was annoying me that whenever something bad happened, it was blamed on Rose just because she had tried to protect Lissa.

I sighed and shook my head before retreating back to my room and trying to keep myself calm. If there was one thing which annoyed me more than Strigoi was when people judged before fuly knowing someone.


End file.
